White Knight
by Aisa Bellvard
Summary: After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach!
1. Daughter

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 01:** Daughter

Shin Seijurou never was a talkative man, not even as a child. That reserved, calm manner might be what was so amusing about him. Even being known as the ace of the team, he never once boasted about himself, instead, he would train even harder and reach higher levels. He was undeniable the star of the team, maybe not the only one.

 _But_ , on that day, he didn't feel like a star, or as the winner or the great player people told he was… Right in front of him an unsettling scene unraveled.

His widened, bewildered eyes could only see the scarlet hair flowing in front of him like fire, he almost grasped that blaze, but before that, the girl was rolling down the small cliff to the lakeshore, along with a motorcycle and its rider as the last rays of the orange sunlight colored the sunset behind them, all of it in a slow motion.

Was he a second faster like the Eyeshield 21, he would be able to grab that person and cease her fall. Had he born with the same fast reflexes as Agon, he'd be able to react on time. Had he noticed it earlier, he would be able to impede that tragedy, if he was…

" _Shizuka_ …"

It was so frustrating… His stretched hand would never reach before she fell, just like he couldn't catch up with Kobayakawa Sena's speed. He had been training to overcome his weakness, but, he wasn't ready…

His eyes were fixed on the scene. He thought that in the school, on that place no one cared… Then, he met Shoji Gunpei, his coach, and Sakuraba and other teammates who respected him… It seems the list of people who worried about him was increasing, much to his surprise, even when he couldn't understand the reasons for it to be happening…Yet …Why…

 _Why did it happen?_

. . .

 **Two months and a half ago**

. . .

"Huh… Shin," the boy calling him was the closest person to what he could call a 'best friend', even though he didn't talk much with the boy to begin with. "Hey."

He called once more and the response came with Shin looking directly at Sakuraba who seemed troubled about something. His brows were raised in a way he looked unsure of what to do, even more when his black-haired companion had that stern and rough traits sculpted on face.

"Do you have a spare pen? I forgot mine and the test will begin soon…"

"…." It only took him some seconds to answer, almost as if he was analyzing the results of his answer at that moment "I don't."

As expected, Sakuraba was more troubled. Just why had he forgotten his belongings on the day of the surprise test? The teacher would come soon with the tests on hands. To soothe his anxiousness, a helping hand appeared on his sight, lending him a pen.

"Here. You can have mine."

The owner of that placid voice was a seemingly common girl from his class. Well, not that common, her hair was long and had a beautiful scarlet color, her gentle round eyes were honey colored, and it remembered him of the manager of Deimon's devil bats for some reason. He accepted the pen hesitantly, even though they were from the same class there was nothing particularly special about her, she was beautiful and had a well-draw body with accentuated curves that her uniform could not hide completely, but he didn't have time to pay attention to it now that he engaged on the training.

"Ah, thank you…"

She smiled briefly and calmly took her seat, which was behind Shin. The young idol remembered her name, Shizuka, was it? That's why she sat there, their class' desks were ordered accordingly to the initials of their names, but shouldn't it be ordered accordingly to their surnames? What was her surname…? Before he could put a deep thought about his regular classmate, the teacher finally came back to the classroom with the surprise tests prepared.

.

.

.

Sakuraba sighed, being a second year and keeping the studies parallel with the rigorous training of Shoji Gunpei was not a joke. He and Shin were going to the football clubroom. Their only important schedule for the day was that damn test and after this, they had a vague period before lunch time, which means they were going to train like their lives depended on that.

"I feel like this year will be like a living hell…" the young receiver casted a discreet side glance to his lone friend "How can this guy get high grades on tests? He trains so much I doubt he has lots of free time of study…"

He thought a bitterly since he couldn't surpass that genius in absolutely any aspect. His thoughts were irrupted when a familiar voice called them:

"Ah, Shin-san, Sakuraba-san…" she beckoned.

It was the same girl from before. Seeing her from a close perspective, she was smaller than he thought, her height didn't even reach his shoulder. If he wasn't accustomed to Wakana, their manager who was also tiny, he'd be surprised.

"You're Shizuka-san, right?" he scratched his face a bit nervous, since he couldn't remember her surname.

"Yes." She smiled briefly "Are you going to the clubroom?"

"You mean the football's clubroom?" that was a rhetorical question, but the young idol felt it could be necessary to test if she knew they were part of the famous club or if she was mistaking something there. "Huh… Yes, we have training scheduled."

"Ah, can I accompany you? Actually I have some things to do at the clubroom too…"

This time, there was a reaction sketched on Shin's face too, he seemed a bit puzzled. Sakuraba raised a brow. What would she want to do in the clubroom? The only female member there was Wakana and he doubted she had a connection with their manager, then… Was she a fan of some players or something like that? No, worse than that, was she one of those crazy stalker fans who persecuted him? He felt a chill on his spine thinking she could be like the last fan that chased him and almost invaded his house.

He got so distracted with his thoughts he only noticed that Shin and the girl were already walking ahead when he listened part of their conversation:

"Huh… Coach Gunpei is very strict with the training, right?" she asked with some sort of concern on her voice casting a sidelong glance to him.

"In order to grow stronger, we need to endeavor. There's nothing strange about it." Shin's response was collected and very precise, as always.

Sakuraba caught up to them in a minute, and walked silently while observing the strange girl who seemed to be very tranquil and oblivious to his distrust. When they opened the doors to the training room, most of the third years were already exercising, the coach wasn't around, but their manager was taking care of some errands and taking some notes about their performance.

Shizuka stopped by the entrance and beckoned to Wakana. A bright smile appeared on the lips of the young manager of the team, she immediately approached. Sakuraba finally solved his doubts, she was a friend of Wakana, not a stalker… It was a relief …

"Here, Koharu-chan, I brought what you asked…" the brown-haired smiled too, picking a magazine out of her school bag and handling it to the manager.

"So, it was only an exchange of girl's issues…" Sakuraba sighed once more, until his eyes focused on the magazine.

It was a football magazine. Wait, wait, why would a girl like her be carrying a magazine like that? Was she a passionate fan of American football? No, surely it wasn't the case, her personality just didn't match.

"I'm sorry to make you come all the way here to do this sort of job, Shizucchi… I talked to coach, but he was busy today…" Wakana apologized.

"Don't worry, that's not a hard job, after all…"

This time, Takami, the quarterback approached and greeted the newcomer, as if he already knew her:

"Shizuka-chan, you came today too… Coach must be very busy…" the adjusted his glasses as some drops of sweat from his arduous training dripped.

"He will finish his business soon, but if you need anything, just tell me, I'll make sure to tell him properly."

Shin was occupied with his training, but Sakuraba was quite curious to find out how the girl from his class knew his senpai and the manager of his team, more than that, from her words, did she know his coach too?

"Hey, don't slack! We're watching you!" some of his senpais lectured him and he immediately concentrated on his train.

When Shizuka left, all he had on mind were riddles to solve, however, he doubted he would be getting an answer now.

"Hey, Takami, that girl… Does she come here often?" the Jaripro star asked, and his interest extracted a brief smile from the quarterback of his team.

"Hehe… She is from your class and you don't even know that? Shin, you should have noticed it too…" his gaze landed on the ace of their team, but the black-haired linebacker seemed completely lost on that affirmation. "Seriously, you guys… Can you only think about football?" the quarterback shrugged his shoulders with the pitiful situation.

"W-what's wrong? Only because she sits behind Shin, that doesn't mean we talk often…"

"Well, if you really value your life, you shouldn't pry on her identity, I'd say…" the quarterback had a malign expression making his words not sound like a joke like he meant to be.

The young idol gulped feeling uneasiness. With more doubts in the air, he focused on his train, irritated. What was so special about that plain girl after all? On the other hand, when he watched Shin's disinterest on the matter, he felt he should just follow the example and forget about it.

.

.

.

The next day, Shizuka greeted them before she took a seat, Sakuraba beckoned friendly, and Shin bowed slight, but he looked a bit confused, staring at her.

"Ah… Here he comes again, I almost forgot he has difficult in recognizing people's faces… He must not remember her…" the young brown-haired got serious trouble because of his friend's idiosyncrasies.

Now that she was close, it was the time to finally solve her doubts, but how should he ask her about her relationship with the team members and the coach?

"Hum… Shizuka-san… Isn't it…?" Sakuraba tried to pull a dialogue, although it really sounded strange.

"Yes…?" she was always gentle and he really didn't want to bother her, but, his curiosity was bigger.

"Sorry to call you by your name like that…" he scratched his head feeling that he should be more respectful, but she only smiled kindly in response:

"That's not a problem at all. I understand."

"Well…You seem to be very fond of American football…" at the time, he was sitting supporting his chin on the back of his chair. "Takami and Wakana know you and you even was talking about Shogun… I didn't know a classmate of mine was so close to the football club…"

"Huh? Didn't you know?" she chuckled as if he had told something funny, a joke he definitely failed to comprehend "I guess so… Takami-san and Koharu-chan know me since last year, when I entered the school, so it's not strange… But…" she chuckled again. "Well, for the coach, it's a special case…"

"Special case…?" he raised a brow.

"Yes, I can't blame you, people tell me often I don't resemble him any bit…" she wrote something on her notebook and showed it to Sakuraba.

"This is the reading of my name: Shoji Shizuka"

"Shoji… Ah…" his eyes gradually widened open and almost popped out, his chair clattered when he suddenly moved his body backwards in astonishment "Wait, Shoji…?! Like…in Shoji Gunpei?!" he was flabbergasted. "Don't tell me, you're…"

"I'm coach's Gunpei youngest daughter… Shoji Shizuka…"

Sakuraba was wordless, anyone in the world would find a trace of her that reminded her father, she took utterly after the mother, probably. Moreover, did she say youngest daughter? Does it mean he had more than one daughter?! It was already hard to imagine coach having a child, more than it was simply absurd. Gunpei was a man full of mysteries.

Even Shin who was usually abstract about their conversation was now paying close attention, although he did not say a word. Of course he should be shocked, it was what Sakuraba thought. Underneath his apathetic expression he must be full of questions to ask too.

However, he finally understood the situation: it wasn't related to her being fond of American football, but her father was the coach of Oujou! She knew the senpais because she must have met them before and he was running some errands for coach under his own request. Incredible enough, she didn't seem the least interested in American football.

He felt pretty pathetic for not knowing that the daughter of the coach had a seat right behind him and Shin and they haven't pay attention to it for like, one year!

"I thought you were a fan of football…"

"Well, it's not like I'm not interested, I know one or two things since my father loves it so much…"

"I've never seen you in the games before…" Sakuraba commented.

"Ah…" there was a subtle reaction, he thought he had seen a crackle on her usual smile, but it was so fast he considered it was a wrong impression. "I've heard from Takami-san that both you and Shin-san are stars of the team…"

"Huh…" he took a brief glance to his classmate that seemed occupied writing some notes "I'm not that famous, I still have lots to improve, Shin is…"

"Everyone has to train equally hard." Shin broke their conversation with a single phrase and stared at his friend, maybe he meant to give some support and a vote of trust, yet the young idol didn't seem to understand fully his intentions.

"No, he's being humble again, coach has been more strict to him since he entered the team… He got the hardest training schedule ever and didn't complain a bit about it…" Sakuraba couldn't help but feel impressed on how modest his companion could be, should he consider him an honored man or a training addicted?

"I see, so he is being equally _severe_ to everyone." Her smile had a worried tone when she said that.

Not after much, the class started. She seemed to be a good girl, but he still couldn't believe she was the daughter of the strictest man he knew on his life. Just by remembering the first months of train when he was a first year, he had headaches, and like an ironical contrast, his daughter was beautiful and very gentle.

On the same day, during the sunset, Shin left the school grounds to run around the area, his posture never changed and his disinterest on issues that were not related to his beloved football was carved into his face.

Someone passed by him swiftly, and he could listen perfectly when something dropped on the ground, the thud was heavy. He stopped and turned for a moment. There were some books scattered on the ground, and someone familiar. Not that he remembered clearly her face, but he could tell from her voice:

"Huh… How did it happen?" Shizuka was squatted down, looking at the rip off on the bottom of her school bag "Weird…" she frowned in puzzlement.

"….."

Shin squatted down too and helped picking the books, while she organized the books supporting the pile on her right arm.

"Shin-san… Were you training?"

"Yes…"

After his blank response, she was giving attention to her problem again and a strange silence installed until she mumbled:

"Hum… I'm still wondering how it happened…"

She raised a brow looking at the bag from many angles, but no matter how she analyzed, it didn't look like it was tear apart naturally. There was a well-drawn cut opened, it was surely made by a sharp object.

Shin picked a paper that had fallen, it was a notebook's paper sheet with a terrible handwrite. He stalled for a moment when his eyes read the message on the paper, Shizuka only noticed there was something wrong when he stood there for some seconds without proffering a word, with a deep knot on his eyebrows.

"Huh? Was it inside my bag too?" she quickly stole the paper from his hands, and he got startled, staring as if waiting for her reaction. "What is it? I don't remember putting it-"

Her eyes froze in place when she read the message. That was clearly a threat, beside the fact there was a terrible handwriting and she couldn't understand properly the words, the message was about making he pay for approaching "their" handsome and sweet idol Sakuraba.

"Ah, so it was his fan club or something like that?" strangely enough, the calmness on her voice remained the same as she creased the paper, like it didn't matter at all, putting it among the pile of books to discard later "Well, well…" she frowned like she had received a revelation, but even her irritated face didn't seem the least intimidating or really angry like it was supposed to be "Then, they were the ones who did it to my schoolbag…"

"…. You should tell it to Sakuraba." He suggested in a disinterested tone, but Shizuka gestured immediately:

"Ah, no, no… You don't need to tell him too… He probably isn't even aware about this, don't worry him… This sort of bullying works only if the person really gets annoyed, but I frankly couldn't care less… Anyways, I'll deal with it properly later…" she sighed "Don't tell it to him, right?" she clasped her hands together in a plead "Good luck on your training."

Without giving further explanations, she beckoned, leaving with the wind. And the lone player continued to run, maybe that was a very silly encounter, and neither of them were aware at the time, but soon, in a close future, something would change for both of them.

Two months and a half left until that accident happened… How did it end in a situation like that, where the daughter of their coach was trapped into a life and death situation?


	2. Shinryuuji VS Oujou

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 02:** Shinryuuji VS Oujou White Knights

Sakuraba stared at his school's wardrobe, it was filled with love letters again and it wasn't even Valentine's Day. He wondered what had happened this time. Shin, as always seemed indifferent to the situation.

"Ah… What are they planning this time…?" he swept the letters with his hands putting them aside to arrange his books on the inner shelves of the wardrobe. "The last time I received so many letters, I had serious troubles at home, you see… There was even a stalker…" he complained, pouting "Shin, are you listening to me…?"

The blank expression on his friend's face didn't give any clue about what the black-haired was thinking or even if he was indeed listening to his dissatisfaction. The young idol sighed heavily, no way that his sturdy and dense companion would understand about those sorts of troubles, right? He gave up with the sentence:

"Whatever, let's go to the classroom…"

When they arrived, Shizuka was already on her seat, and greeted them with a bright smile.

"Good morning."

While they greeted her, there was small group of three girls mumbling some curses to her. One of them a tall girl with very short brown-hair and sharp brown eyes emanated an aura full of envy.

"Haven't you cut the bottom of her bag to put that note inside? How can she still be talking to him after our alert?" one of them questioned.

"Of course I did, I even wrote in an ugly manner to not let her know my handwriting…" the brown-haired contested.

Most part of the classroom they elaborated some evil plot to bully Shizuka and keep her away from their favorite idol, who probably didn't know their existence.

.

.

.

During the lunch time, Shizuka had her hands filled with two boxes pilled one above the other. She carried it like it was light but had some difficulties to see the path ahead since the boxed blocked it partially.

"Huh… Shizuka-chan what is it?" Sakuraba asked curiously.

"Ah, that's for your clubroom." She smiled faintly "Coach Gunpei asked me to bring it…"

"But, isn't that Wakana's function? Moreover, if it's something to carry, he should've asked us…" he raised a brow feeling that, maybe, Shogun was using his daughter as a non-paid worker.

"Wakana wasn't present at the morning training…" Shin commented.

"Yes, she was not feeling well, and she couldn't ask any member to carry it since she didn't come, thus, father asked me to bring it…" the small girl completed.

"You don't need to. Here, give it to me…" Sakuraba stretched his hands.

"But there are two of them…"

"Shin can carry the other one, don't bother…"

When the handed the box, it almost slipped down. It was heavier than expected, but she was carrying like there wasn't a problem with the weight at all. Shin didn't have problems holding the box, and differently of Sakuraba he didn't look surprised.

"How was she carrying it…? And what's inside this box anyways?!" the receiver thought sweating a bit.

Shizuka was walking in front of them and turned her face a bit while chatting, on her moment of distraction, the brown-haired girl who was a fan of Sakuraka stretched her feet to the middle of the corridor intending to make her "rival" fall shamefully on the ground.

"Shizu-" Sakuraba tried to warn her, but before he completed her name.

Shizuka tripped slightly and the girl smiled satisfied, but before she fell, Shin pulled her shoulder fast and helped her to stand again.

"H-huh… Thank you…" she said a bit confused.

It was not over yet, frustrated that her plans of making the daughter of the coach pass for a shameful situation were foiled, she incited a conflict annoyed:

"Hey, what are you going to do? You trampled on my foot, it hurts!"

Shin frowned slightly, but Sakuraba was still unaware about the whole villainous plot. The irritated tone of her rival wasn't a bit intimidating as she responded calmly:

"I'm sorry if your foot hurts, but it's not my fault. You shouldn't put it on the middle of the corridor, someone could trip and really fall the next time."

"Ah, you-" she clenched her fists, preparing to start a fight, but she hesitated after taking a peek at her surroundings, people were whispering. "Y-you'll pay for that…" she whispered menacingly and turned away.

"What was that for?" Sakuraba felt a shiver on his spine, some girls of his school were scary.

"You shouldn't worry about it…" the red-haired simply smiled like there was nothing else to tell.

She left somewhere else when they arrived at the club, they opened the boxes. Again, Sakuraba's eyes almost popped out when he saw that the content filling the boxes were weights.

"Ah, those are the fifty kilos we asked for training… Twenty-five on each box!" Takami adjusted his glasses happily testing the objects.

"Fi-fifty?!" Sakuraba was stunned "How… How was Shizuka-chan carrying it?!"

"She has good muscles... She must have inherited it from coach."

Shin asserted tranquilly, but his friend only got more shocked, he almost forgot the exquisite trait of his friend that consisted in seeing people's muscles instead of their faces.

"That's not something you inherit!" he contested nervously "Furthermore, where the hell are her muscles? She's not muscular!"

"…"

Shin only stared at him, like it should be obvious. Of course, the poor Sakuraba couldn't understand what was passing by his friend's head.

"Anyways, don't you think it was strange that girl on the corridor? I had the feeling she put her foot to…" he stopped when Shin pronounced about the issue:

"Shoji Shizuka has been…"

Sakuraba paid close attention to his friend that has finally decided to talk. He was amused that Shin actually started a dialogue, but the black-haired hesitated after seeing the earnest and preoccupied expression of his partner.

"… I forgot what I was going to say…"

"Ah…"

Sakuraba couldn't understand at the time, had his friend just joked about something? The super serious maniac for training? Shin was simply respecting the wish of that girl of not letting the young celebrity know that he was actually the source of her current problems.

.

.

.

Shizuka had been frequenting the clubroom more often, but the coach wasn't happy about it, he always raised a brow in distrust wondering why she was going there. Nevertheless, she never hindered or messed with their training schedules, she only watched quietly from the bench and even helped Wakana. What was so special about training anyways?

Shin occasionally passed by her during his race near the school, and he did seem to recognize her, because he answered with a soft bowing every time she greeted him. Two weeks passed and most of the members were used to her presence, it was rendering some wrinkles to her father since some of the members found her cute and he got even more rigorous with the training.

At the sunset, Shin was still in the middle of his running while she passed by him:

"Shin-san," she greeted with a smile but soon her gaze was intrigued about something "Was there running scheduled for the training today?"

"No…" he answered vaguely "I'm doing it by myself."

"Dedicated as ever…" she smiled briefly, but there was something off about her eyes when she casted a glance to the ground, rambling while she digressed about something. She clenched her grip on her school bag "I guess father and you are all the same…"

"…." His gaze stationed on her for a moment, studying which kind of emotions she was trying to display, even if he himself wasn't an expert on the matter.

"There's something I'd like to ask…"

He didn't say a word, but it was hinted on his face he would pacifically listen to her question. The black-haired was attentive even more now that the traits of her expression demonstrated seriousness on the place of her commonly used smile.

"Do you have fun playing American football?"

He was dazed for a minute, his eyes widened a bit while he tried to swallow that question. He was sure she would ask something related to her father, but was the question really meant for him? He opened his mouth to give an answer. He could swear it would be something profound, but it was rather simple. Notwithstanding, a strange thought struck him…

Until now… Had he really have fun playing football? He has never stopped a moment to reflect about such trifle matter, but… As far as he remembered he never gave relevance to such trivial questions… He was training to get stronger and his reasons were clear like crystal for him, yet… He couldn't tell a simple answer to whether he liked or not that sport, because he didn't have any recollection about smiling once during any match… Could that be considered as demotivation?

"Ah, I mean, you don't need to answer…" she gestured frantically "It's just… Sakuraba-kun and all the others members were training so hard and you seem to be always overdoing yourself… It doesn't seem like you're having fun at all, every time you're running you look dedicated … I know it's supposed to be a serious issue, but It looks like a duty for you, not as a hobby… I thought that maybe, you weren't happy doing it at all…"

In fact, he had the training as an obligation with the team, with the coach and with his own self. He wanted to improve. Besides, he had found a new rival, a person whose speed he couldn't match, and it only set fire into his spirit, he wanted to surpass Eyeshield 21. The question just caught him by surprise, but he still answered sincerely, guessing that she would be worried about her father's methods:

"I… Don't know. I have never thought about it. But I believe coach's rigorous trainings are the right way to achieve our goal… And I'm certain everyone from the team thinks the same, otherwise we wouldn't follow his lead."

For an ephemeral second she seemed truly amused with his answer, and on the next moment, her lips curved up forming a happy smile, for some reason, she seemed overjoyed to listen to that. Her smile was radiant at the time and he wondered what was so special about his answer.

"My father must have been rigorous, but you never complained, so I was just wondering if you all really had the same passionate determination like him, or if he was forcing people to be stern… It doesn't seem to be the case, I guess everyone just really loves football. Thank you."

Her last phase was filled with gratitude as she bowed obtusely, nonetheless, he still wasn't sure why she would feel like that, but a question naturally emerged on his mind:

"If you like the team, why don't you watch the matches?"

"Ah…" she flinched and chuckled "You're right… I should try watching a match once… Then, I'll go next time." She smiled and left with the wind waving her hand softly before disappearing into the sunset.

Her question still picked his interest… If he trained so hard, then… Wouldn't it be obvious he liked football? Thereof how could he not remember a single time he was happy about playing football? Perhaps, Shizuka only asked that because she was concerned her father was being overly extreme with the trainings.

Actually, he couldn't understand why she asked him instead of Sakuraba or any other in first place. He had been under the assumption she was one fan of Sakuraba, but he had discarded that option now. Then, maybe because she was asking it to him by the fact she knew the coach tried to extract the maximum of him? As usual, his thoughts soon diverted to his training again, he shouldn't bother himself with that.

.

.

.

 **Enoshima,**

 **Semifinals of the spring tournament**

The match between Shinryuuji Naga VS Oujou White Knights would take place. Torakichi swirled wildly the wheels of his wheelchair and dragged Sakuraba along with him.

"Torakichi, you'll get hurt!" he tried to advert, but it was inutile:

"I won't!" the confidence on the boy's face, but on the next second, he hurriedly tried to reduce his speed, he hit someone. "Ah!" he shouted in alert.

Sakuraba immediately left the boy to tend to the fallen girl, his eyes widened when he recognized the person.

"Shizuka-chan?!"

"Huh… Sakuraba-kun…"

He helped her to stand, she seemed fine, just patted her clothes to cleaned the dust and smiled to greet him.

"I-I'm sorry…" Torakichi apologized.

"You don't need to worry, just take care next time, right?"

"I told you…" Sakuraba gave a half-scold in a tone of dismay "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Huh? Sakuraba, do you know her?" Torakichi switched his gaze between the girl to his number one hero "Is she your girlfriend?!" he smirked mischievously, sure of what he was talking.

"No." the receiver gasped "She's only a classmate, don't ever say it out loud! I'd be killed!" he whispered the last part.

"Eh?! Why are you saying that?!"

"I guess that's because my father is the coach of Oujou, am I not right?" she smiled gently, but Sakuraba felt completely ashamed for saying it in front of her.

"Wow! That Shogun?! Incredible!" his eyes sparkled in admiration.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to…" the young idol apologized again.

"I came to watch the games!" she told animatedly. "And cheer for you all!"

"I'll get you a seat near the field, you'll see everything in details!" he swore in some sort of repayment.

"Seriously?"

"Ah, but… Coach Gunpei must have reserved a seat for you…" he scratched his head and she fidgeted. "Hm?"

"Hm? What?" she seemed somewhat nervous.

"…." The boy and the receiver exchanged a glance.

"Shizuka-chan, could it be that… Coach did not give you permission to come…?" he guessed.

"You caught me." She sighed and her smile withered "But, do not tell him, please!" she clasped her hands together "If he sees me here before the match, he will probably send me home, but if he only notices it during the match he won't be able to do a thing about it!"

"That sounds very wrong… I don't know why he would not allow you to come, but…" he smiled wryly "Fine, don't worry."

"Thank you!" she bowed deeply.

.

.

.

Sakuraba guided them to the bench, Torakichi was extremely excited and curiously scrutinized his surroundings, he was so happy about going to a real football match, as for Shizuka, she was also enthusiastic, until…

"Shizuka?!"

Gunpei was flabbergasted and the other team members seemed surprise to find both a strange boy (Torakichi) and coach's daughter on the bench, they knew it was completely forbidden to bring outsiders to the player's bench during the matches.

She almost lost her balance with her father's calling, but put a soft smile on her face, beckoning swiftly.

" _Coach_ , I came to watch the match."

"You can't watch from here, no, forget it, you can't watch!" he crossed his arms giving the verdict in a calm, dictatorial tone.

"H-huh, actually, I brought them, coach…" Sakuraba put himself in front of the two newcomers and scratched his head clumsily, trying to attenuate his superior's judgement.

"There's no problem for the boy, but it's not the same for her." His brows had an obtuse angle demonstrating his disapproval.

Takami and Shin arrived at the scene, they both felt the tense mood before the match, mainly the aggressive, powerful and obstinate aura of their coach. Of course his impartiality would never work when it was about his dear daughter. The only thing he couldn't abide coming from his players was messing with his daughter (or stealing her heart).

"Hey Sakuraba, you can't bring your fans here…" one of the members mocked.

"She's not…" he stopped after seeing the intense expression of displeasure molding on the wrinkles of the coach.

"I'm damned!" he thought, until an angel intervened to save him:

"I called her here, coach." It was Wakana, she exclaimed worriedly.

"….! You two…" Shogun raised a brow seeing the plot schemed by those two youngsters, of course they were only covering up for his daughter. "That's not-" his sentence was interrupted by a third, unexpected person:

"I asked it either, coach."

"Shin?!" Shogun was stunned.

The other team members were stunned as well, even Shizuka had surprise expressed on her eyes, but it took only one second for them to sweat aplenty when they saw the eyes of their coach darkening, a storm was coming.

"Oh…" Takami adjusted his glasses like he had finally understood something important amidst the dialogue. To tell the truth, what he had thought was quite amiss from the reality.

Shin only remembered the time he suggested Shizuka to watch a match, thus he was assuming she had gone there because both him and Sakuraba had been incentivizing her, unaware that her father did not agree with that, if it was really the case, he felt that he was partially a culprit for that situation.

"Why did he say that?!" Sakuraba screamed to his inner self, afraid of the consequences of the irresponsible words of his friend.

The tense mood only swelled on the following seconds of silence, until Takami finally intervened with his smartness and saved the day:

"Coach, the match will begin soon."

"Get ready!" his mood changed in an instant and he was entirely concentrated on his players again.

"Ah, we're saved." Sakuraba sighed in relief and his shoulders relaxed "Takami-san saved us, but thank you for your support, Wakana…"

"Sorry to bring you troubles, Koharu-chan…" Shizuka apologized "Father makes a fuss every time it's something related to football."

"B-but there's one person I can't understand…" the receiver set his eyes on his serious friend.

Of course with his stern posture and words, they imagined if he simply told those words without a second meaning or if the story that he had asked her to come involved a whole tale happening behind the scenes, but they felt the second meaning was too profound for a straight person like him, he wasn't even paying attention to the girl anymore, he was other person who changed completely when it was about football.

While they were entering the field, Shinryuuji players watched them admiring the beauties around Oujou, namely, Wakana, Mamori who was closely watching them for Deimon's sake on that same day, and Shizuka who had a lively smile on her face.

After the match started, another person arrived at the stadium, the genius Agon, he could be one in a thousand, but his sickening personality ruined him. His sloppy eyes looked to those people watching the games and to the players to whom he referred as "thrash", until, on Oujou's bench, his tired sight caught a glimpse of something interesting: a red-haired girl he had never seen before.

"Oh, it seems the knights brought a gorgeous princess beside their flat manager…" an evil smirk was born on his face.

Like a savage beast, once he had set his eyes into a prey, he'd do everything to catch it. Maybe, Shoji Gunpei was right to not bring his daughter to the matches, it could be dangerous, in many ways…


	3. Fallen Kingdom

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 03:** The Fallen Kingdom

Shizuka couldn't take her eyes out of the match, she thought she'd finally see Oujou's victory for the first time in person, but... They were losing the match, and from what she overheard, Shinryuuji's ace wasn't even playing.

Her eyes flickered, she felt the same apprehension as the players, her eyes landed on her father: he had crossed arms and a severe look on his face, his lips were curved down, of course he' be worried about the team. Sakuraba was sweating a lot, notwithstanding, he seemed ready to enter the match any time.

Shin talked something to the coach during the interval, but she couldn't listen, she only noticed that the members did not agree with him and he clenched his fists, something rare to her, Shin demonstrating his impatience. She only got more concerned about the result of that match, she wanted, from the bottom of her heart that they were the winners.

When the match ended, she couldn't believe her eyes, the reporters and many other people commented about the fallen Kingdom, the dynasty of Oujou has ended. When she noticed, there were tears forming on her eyes.

"E-eh?" she swiped her tears confused, and before someone noticed, she vanished among the people.

Torakichi cried out loud and huffed Shinryuuji Naga. It was when Agon pitched a ball to strike him, leading both Monta and Sakuraba to block it. Sakuraba declared his determination to win on the incoming fall tournament that would take place in two months.

.

.

.

Shizuka walked away amidst the crowd, perhaps, because it meant so much for her father, she lamented their loss at the tournament after seeing how much they took efforts. They had to train even harder if they wanted to overcome that immense wall. Even though her father always told the losses were part of growing, she still had some tears to shed in their sake.

While she was distracted, she bumped into someone, and stepped back. Her nose hurt and she touched it for a moment. When she opened her eyes, she had to raise them to look at the tall individual in front of her. He was a player of Shinryuuji Naga, he was carrying a bag with the team's logo on it.

"H-huh, I'm sorry…" she bowed briefly.

"Ah, no, no… Pardon me…" Agon smiled slyly under the façade of a kind man "I was the one at fault… I should have been more cautious…"

He felt a shiver run down her spine, even though there wasn't a single hint of malice on his expression, her intuition told her he was not a trustable man. She stepped back by reflex, but when she did, his hand was already around her shoulders and he brought her close. How could he grab her shoulder so fast? Her heartbeat accelerated for a moment.

"If you allow me, I'd like to reward you for being so rude, if you come with me I will-"

"I'm not…" she interrupted him, but, on the next moment, she felt an eerie sensation and instinctively pushed him away.

Agon avoided her push by giving a short step back before she hit his chest. She perceived his gesture as well and her eyes only showed more awe.

"I will refuse your offer… I-"

She didn't have the chance to finish her refusal, the only vision she had was that of his hand coming menacingly, would he really hit her out of the blue? However, before his hand touched her, it stopped only a few centimeters from her face, his fingers almost brushed on her cheek, the reason for that…?

"Shin-san…?" she was stupefied, on the other hand, Agon had a frown on face.

The linebacker had stretched his hand and firmly hit Agon's chest, slightly pulling the man back in a way that threatening hand did not touch Shizuka. The genius player smirked once more after seeing the black-haired with a stern and intense expression, one that told him to not mess around as he pleased.

"Kongou Agon, what are you doing?" he questioned.

"Tsc." He lowered his hand and adjusted his sunglasses "I was only apologizing for bumping into her, you don't need to make this hell of a serious face."

"…." Shin frowned.

"Well, see ya."

He wavered his hand, going away with his wicked grin on face, and the linebacker watched him until he was out of sight. Shizuka was still confused about the situation:

"Ah, Shin-san… What are you doing here…?" she touched her chest feeling as her heart calmed down after that maleficent man was gone.

"….." he stared at her for a second before answering calmly, the whole irritation and intensity of his expression had just dissolved into nothingness. "Shoji Shizuka, the coach was searching for you."

"Ah, sorry, I ended up separating from everyone… H-huh, thank you for coming." She bowed nervously. "By the way, don't call me by my surname, please, it's strange, you also don't call my father by that name, right?"

"…..."

He simply closed his eyes and walked away, sometimes she wondered if she would come to understand him some day, since his personality was so quiet and inexpressive, yet, differently from the sensation she felt about Agon, she sincerely trusted she could follow his back.

.

.

.

After the incident with Agon Shin and Shizuka reunited with the team again. The aftermath of Shinryuuji against Oujou worried Shizuka, and she was pondering thoroughly. The red-haired casted a brief glance to her father, he snorted watching some strategies, her brows curled forming a worried expression.

"Shizuka-chan, is there something bothering you?" Sakuraba asked trying to be gentle and polite.

"No, there's nothing…" she smiled falsely in response. "It's just… After seeing this match I kinda of understand why you were training so hard…"

"… Shinryuuji are…" the receiver casted his gaze down "The strongest team so, you shouldn't use them as a standard to measure Oujou's forces… We…"

"Hey!"

Torakichi used his chair to hit her legs, he was irritated, Shizuka's legs wobbled and she lost her equilibrium, but Sakuraba supported her back with his hands, impeding her fall.

"Torakichi!" he said in a scolding tone.

"She is looking down on Oujou! Sakuraba is the best! Oujou will win, they're much better than Shinryuuji, did ya hear?!"

"Ah…" she giggled and stood up alone again "I know… I'm not saying they're bad…"

He was right, she shouldn't worry, after all, it was her father training them. She bent her body a bit to ruffle his hair, the boy blushed a bit after seeing her smile, even more because it looked radiant when she proffered the next sentence:

"I believe in Oujou too."

Some rays of the sunshine illuminated her face, there was faith imbued into her smile and her words were like a warmth breeze in a cold day. Torakichi blushed even more for a moment and averted his face.

"T-then don't say those sort of things."

"I won't…" she looked up at the sky, as her true feelings dwelled even further inside her heart.

.

.

.

The days passed fast. During the summer vacation, Oujou white nights training would be on Mount Fuji.

"Eh? Father will take the team to mount Fuji, Sakuraba-kun?" Shizuka raised a brow.

"Yes…" Sakuraba smiled concerned "It seems he did it with the previous generation of the team… Many members are excited about it… I also think it will be good to prepare for the autumn tournament…"

The young idol was passing by some sort of change, he seemed weary in many ways and wasn't giving much attention to his appearance which caused his fans to mourn over him like they had lost their brilliant knight on armor.

"Mount Fuji, huh…" her eyes wandered on the sky outside for a moment

"What's wrong…?"

"No, I've just remembered I climbed the mount with my sister once…"

"H-huh? You?" he was astounded. "So, coach doesn't take it easy even with his daughters…" he thought feeling some sort of fear of what awaited for the in the training.

.

.

.

 **Training Camp on Mount Fuji**

Sakuraba had been escaping from the manager of Jari Pro. He was trying to train harder, every time he looked at Shin, he asked why the linebacker did ten times the exertion of the others, and how he could handle all the harsh trainings Shogun allotted him with.

He wanted to grow too, as an athlete, he wanted to show he also could get better ad fulfill his promise with Torakichi. That dilemma only swelled up inside him, the more he tried to catch up to Shin's pace of training, the more he noticed he wouldn't be able to reach on the level of his friend.

While he climbed Mount Fuji following the back of the black-haired, his legs hurt, he felt so tired he wanted to stop, but as many times as he thought about giving up, he saw the back of that man, he run ahead, so far. His efforts looked inutile. No matter how long he tried to stretch his hand, it would never reach that person, he'd never be able to be on the same level, then… Why? Just why was he even training?

He admired Shin and his talent, and in part, he was worried since his friend was never a sociable person, but at the same time, he felt jealous, for him Shin was both a great friend and a rival. That talent he could never surpass, the unreachable heights he would never grasp. It pained the bottom of his heart.

During the training inside the gymnasium, he was feeling completely demotivated. If he couldn't surpass a genius, he shouldn't try to begin with. Because of this feeling of dejection, he had a fight with Takami, but somehow, after comprehending the true reasons behind Takami's irritation, his determination was reborn.

After the training was over, each one of them had improved on some aspect be it their abilities as players, or their mental strength.

.

.

.

Sakuraba's spirit was lifted and he looked like a true football player when they came back, the red-haired didn't fail to notice he had changed, not on his appearance, but his posture and way of talking was renewed.

Shizuka was admired with their determination, she watched closely the trainings on the school field and was enthusiastic about the fall tournament, but they still lacked the understanding of her reasons to be so happy about it.

"Shizuka-chan you look animated …" a drop of sweat rolled down Sakuraba's face when he commented worriedly.

"It's the first time I'll be watching an entire tournament." She answered quickly.

"First time…? Huh?" the brown-haired idol was perplexed "How…? Have you never watched one before?"

"I'd like to, but there were some complications here and there, and I've never watched an entire football tournament…" she admitted a bit abashed. "The first time I had ever watched a game was during your match last spring…"

Shin and Sakuraba stared at her with some sort of astonishment, she blushed nervously dismissing the matter. It has been only two months since she started talking to them, but they were already good friends… A lot of things could change on a single month was what she thought. Maybe, entering Oujou was the best choice she has made on her life.

. . .

 **Two weeks before the fall tournament started…**

. . .

Shin was running on the straight roads near the lake's shore. His heart was in flames, even more prior to the tournament. Everyone was talking about the fallen Reign of Oujou White Knights, it was one of the only things that bothered his usual calm self, when people underestimated his team and made it look like their efforts were in vain. Thus, he was training twice harder to show it was a mistake to think like that, even though their team had lost the players from the "golden generation".

Sakuraba has finally awakened for the team too, it motivated him even more. He knew Sakuraba would be able to become a great player, that trust was something he might not display often, but it was carved into his heart. While distracted with those thoughts, he passed by a certain girl. If not for her voice, he'd never recognize her by the face, since he had a serious problem in remembering about people's face traits:

"Ah, Shin-san…" she beckoned.

He stopped for a moment and nodded briefly to greet Shizuka. That girl has gotten so attached to the team she was practically acting as a second manager, helping Wakana, although her father usually scolded her for entering the club room without being formally a member, though, most of the members didn't really care since she looked like a fresh breathe of air among those sweaty men inside the room.

His stoic behavior always caused him troubles. People usually labelled him as a man who wasn't fully aware of his surroundings, which was not true, he could perfectly pay attention, he just didn't find particularly necessary to interfere on every little matter, but there was something right now he felt he should take a position:

"If you like the team, why don't you ask coach to be the secretary? Wakana is the manager, but if you ask coach, I'm sure you could be the secretary and help her…"

Shin's suggestion startled her a bit, since he never had really talked something to her, but her face indicated she wasn't inclined to accept that:

"Ah, the team is fine with Koharu-chan…" she gestured fidgety.

Maybe he shouldn't have suggested. She seemed really troubled. It was clear she was hiding her true motives, but he couldn't possibly pry onto people's affairs. He greeted her and turned back to run again.

She watched his back as he took distance, what she really wanted to say was still stuck on her heart. It was not that she didn't want to enter the team too, but… There was a good reason why she had never seen a football match or even become the secretary, if she only could…

Before she had the chance to resolve those bitter feelings burning inside her, she heard a strange sound. Was it a motorcycle? On that straight path? When she turned back, she confirmed her suspects, there was a rider driving uncoordinatedly at full speed, she hurried her steps, running a bit to catch up to Shin until the distance reduced, but…

"Shin!"

She called out loud, he turned by reflex, but the next second brought more desperation: the motorcycle was already going towards his direction, one more second it surely would collide with him. Her eyes widened, what could she possibly do? The only vision reflected on her eyes was that motorcycle and she could predict well what would happen.

Before she knew, she has jumped in the middle of the route, the rider reduced and tried to turn the motorcycle to the other side, but it didn't work well, he has lost control of the vehicle.

Why did she do that? When the linebacker could catch a glimpse of the scene, his eyes widened too, his legs instantly ran to impede the accident, but it was too late, when he stretched his hand to pull her backwards, the vehicle had already collided.

Before the motorcycle crashed with Shizuka's body, the rider tried to change the course, but it still hit the right side of her body. Both the rider and the vehicle rolled down the small cliff leading to the lakeshore, the strands of her scarlet hair brushed against his fingers, yet… Shizuka also fell down the cliff.

If he had noticed a second earlier, if he had the same reflexes as Agon, that wouldn't… Why? Why did it happen? Inside his eyes the only image reflected was the unsettling scene, an unreachable place. He couldn't catch her before she fell in the end.

Shin instantly slid down the cliff and approached her, she grimaced, holding her right arm, there was a cut on her head and some bruises on her legs, but her uniform was stained with…

"Shizuka!" he called her last name for the first time.

He should take her to the hospital, but on that state, he needed to call an ambulance as fast as possible.

Her vision was blurry and she tried to mumble something, but… The words never came out, she stretched her hand, but ended up losing her consciousness. What… What should he do…?! Coach's daughter has… the heavy sense of guilty corroded his insides, If only he was a second faster like Eyeshield 21… If only…


	4. Shoji Shizuka

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 04:** Shoji Shizuka

Shizuka felt her eyelids heavy, she struggled to open her eyes. The first sight she caught was the white ceiling, she tried to sit, but her whole body was numb, and her right arm hurt. There was a slung supporting her right arm, it hurt a bit.

Her confused memory tried to organize the last happenings, there was a motorcycle which would collide with Shin, then, she reacted by instinct and jumped in front of it, in the end, she could only remember the orange sky above as her senses got hazier, and someone calling her name repeatedly. Her honey eyes scrutinized the room, but they stopped when they met a familiar figure.

"Shin…san..?"

The black-haired was sitting beside the bed, he seemed somewhat anxious, and a slight frown formed on his face, although it was clearly expressed that he was worried, he didn't ask anything, instead, he picked something and showed to her with a hint of guilt on his voice:

"I'm sorry, I broke your cellphone…"

Her eyes darkened, there was a hole on one of the keys, she could totally imagine the scene where he probably tried to use her cellphone while she was unconscious and failed miserably, breaking it. That must have been hard for him.

"I heard from Sakuraba-kun he was horrible dealing with technology, yet… This is…"

Her thought was 100 per cent sure, he broke her cellphone while trying to help by calling an ambulance, and fortunately, there was a walker passing by, who called the ambulance that brought her to the hospital.

"It's fine…" she smiled with some pity.

The room fell into an awkward silence and surprisingly, he was the one to break it:

"Why did you jump in front of that motorcycle?" his brows knotted in a mix of perplexity and seriousness.

"Well," she chuckled "It would be a disaster if you got hurt two weeks prior the tournament, right?"

"You got hurt. In any case it would have been bad."

"You're right in part, but…" her eyes stationed on the white sheets covering her body and a saddened glint colored them "If you got hurt and couldn't play on the games, it would have been worse for everyone… Takami-san, Ootawara-san and many others, it's their last chance to play on those tournaments… If by any chance the ace of the team got injured and couldn't play, don't you think it would be unfair? You've all craved for this tournament so much…"

His eyes widened in some sort of stupefaction and his mouth unintentionally opened. Had she really jumped in front of him to avoid such situation? For the team? That didn't make the minimum sense.

"… What about coach Gunpei? Haven't you thought about how he would feel if you told him that?" he questioned. "You even got badly injured…" he stopped and she answered right away:

"Of course my father will be sad to listen to that…"

"I am trained, even if that motorcycle hit me, the probability it wouldn't be as bad as your injuries were higher…" his brows forced a way on his forehead to come together, again he was calculating the odds. "That was stupid." His last phrase wasn't mean to offend her, but rather to scold her for acting without judging the consequences.

"Even if it were only a few injuries, it would be the same result if you couldn't play… It was not stupidity… And I'm quite healthy too, those wounds will heal in no time…" she smiled assuring clenching her healthy fist to show she was fine.

"I still can't understand…"

His concerned and puzzled expression elicited a chuckle on the girl, but on her next sentence, she was in deep thought again.

"Every time I watched the trainings I wondered if father wasn't picking on you all, but you seemed so motivated… Then, I saw that match against Shinryuuji Naga, everyone tried so hard… But…" she paused "I believe that you will win in the autumn… It's because all of you have the same 'dream', and fulfilling it is not so far from your hands… When that motorcycle came my only thought was that I didn't want to see this dream crushed… For you all and for my father too…"

He still couldn't comprehend why, even if she wished to help, that didn't make sense only because she was the daughter of the coach. His certainty broken like shattered glass with her next words:

"Do you know that my father was a famous player 30 years ago, right?"

"… Yes…"

"On that time, my dad told me his team couldn't win…" she closed her eyes as if the memories were tangible on the vision inside her mind and a faint saddened smile was drawn on her face "Even though he lost, his love for football never dissipated one bit… He always devoted his whole heart to his job as a coach after that. His strictness is only a consequence because he is serious about training real players… But… You see, my mother got sick when I was a kid, and three years ago, when the so called golden generation of Oujou was part of White knights, while my father dedicated his time to the team, my mother died… "

Shin's heart skipped a beat, he was reticent about what to say, why was she telling everything to him even though he never had talked much to her before? Did she trust him to that point, or was it because she knew he respected her father?

"I'm not saying that it was his fault, on the contrary, he did everything on his reach to cure my mother's disease, but it only happened… However, my sister doesn't think the same, that's why, when I got into middle school, she didn't let me ingress into Oujou, she hated football so much, she blamed our father for being too concentrated on his job that he forgot his family, but I guarantee he's not that kind of person… Then, last year, after finally convincing her that it wouldn't be a problem, when I finally entered the high school, I found out that the most precious thing to my father was starting to crumble with the leave of the older players… The team he dedicated his efforts, his whole heart to was ruining… Maybe, deep inside, he felt guilty for not listening to my sister, or it was the sadness he had been enduring this whole time for not winning thirty years ago… The gold generation wouldn't be in the team anymore and the new members were giving up before ever starting for real, and it looked like his whole earnestness towards his work was in vain…" she finally looked at him with a smile "Do you know what happened after this?"

"… When Sakuraba and I entered, some members deserted during the training in Germany's institute…" a drop if sweat formed on his face.

There were so many things he didn't know about his coach, not that he needed to know about that story, he would still respect the trainer and follow his orders regardless of what people thought, it was something he decided, still he could never fathom the sorrow Shoji Gunpei had felt until now… The whole time he…

"That's right, at that time, I heard some rumors about this and I secretly went to Germany too, I thought that doing so, I could do something about it… " she chuckled like she had done a prank, but she was only feeling pretentious to be saying she would be really able to do something. "That day, it seems you were climbing the stairs of that colossal institute, but many members haven't come and it was already late at night… My father who had been so passionate about making the team become the best had… Felt depressed for the first time I can remember after mother passed… He thought it was wrong to be like that, then… You appeared there, Shin."

He remembered with details, it had been a year since then, but he could never imagine she would know that story. In fact, at that time, after seeing the pain of the coach, he decided he would show that Gunpei wasn't wrong. He was one of the only people to believe in Shin and to sincerely wish for Shin's growth, exceeding his limits, making him grow stronger, teaching him about persistence and some many other things he couldn't put all of it in a list.

"Then, you promised that you, Sakuraba-kun and the others would train harder to prove he wasn't wrong…" she giggled blushing "He might not express it properly, but he was very happy, because you all showed him 'hope' about the future… For that, I will always be grateful." She bowed slightly smiling warmly.

He got startled again, his eyes flickered in admiration. So it was why she was so excited about going to the clubroom? In the end, all she wanted to do was to thanks them for caring about her father?

"My father only had two daughters and none of them can play... But if he were to have a son, I'm sure he'd like it was someone like you, Shin…" she smiled faintly "I can't play on the games to make the team win, and because it would be troublesome for my sister, I could never get near the football clubroom for many years, but if it's something my father love so much and have dedicated himself, I will dedicate myself to protect it too independent on what the others think about it."

She was filled with pride. Her eyes did not waver as she admitted wholeheartedly and firmly. Even though she was not part of the team, she carried the same pride as any other member, perhaps it was because she had inherited it from her father.

Integrity was the only world that could come to his mind as she observed. She had a tiny stature and fragile shoulders to be bearing such responsibility, yet, there wasn't a sign of regret or fear on her voice. Because Shizuka was gentle, he could not imagine she would have such passion or strength, but he was wrong.

"I…"

Shin Seijurou stood up and his brows contorted in affliction, he was impressed with her tenderness, more than that, with her courage to bravely protect what she wished to, somehow it warmed his heart. He felt a heavy thump, his heart was agitated by a reason he couldn't understand well he felt as his blood accumulated on his cheeks. He stuffed his chest with words, however, before he completed that sentence, the door of the room opened with a burst.

Shoji Gunpei was panting like he had run a marathon (and he had run from the first floor to her room on the fifth floor using the stairs), his eyes ignored the whole surrounding and could only focus on his daughter. He clenched his fists and walked towards the bed she was laying, frowning.

"Shizuka! What had happened?"

He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her small body, his hands seemed so big comparing to her slim arms. She grimaced a bit, her arm right hurt since he unintentionally grabbed her wounded shoulder. He immediately let her go.

"Huh… Father… It was nothing… I'm fine…" she gestured with her healthy hand.

"That's-" he finally noticed there was an intruder inside the room. "Shin?"

"…" the black-haired continued with his grumpy determined expression.

Gunpei took a glance at his daughter, then averted his eyes to look at Shin and crossed his arms looking at his daughter, raising a brow as if expecting a good explanation. Surprisingly, when Shizuka opened her mouth to brief him on the situation, it was Shin who pronounced himself first:

"Coach, I must apologize. It all was my fault." He bowed in deference.

"Huh? Your fault…? What do you mean?"

"Huh? Shin-san what are you talking about?" even the girl was stunned with his sudden declaration. Could it be that he was blaming himself? But she told him it was her own choice…

"I couldn't help Shizuka before she got hit by that motorcycle, but…" he raised his head proudly, as if making a vow to his own self, and with an extremely collected and serious expression, he declared: "From now on, I swear that I'll protect your daughter for the rest of my life."

"H-huh, S-Shin-san?!" she blushed flabbergasted.

"…. W-what?" the coach spurted out in disbelief.

He glared at the serious and blatant face of his pupil, and a vein popped out of his forehead, an insurgent rage burned inside him when his mind processed the real meaning of that sentence and he got he got exasperated:

"Brat! Do you know what you are saying?!" he yelled infuriated.

"H-huh, father, I'm sure you missing the right meaning here…"

Shizuka tried to interfere but it only got her father angrier. No, definitely not his little daughter! Of course, the black-haired meant that he would not let Shizuka got hurt like that again without any further meaning… Or not? Since he always had the same blank expression, no one could tell if he really meant it naively or if he was seriously talking about his feelings there.

Shin only felt, inside his usually locked heart that the same way Shizuka had things she wanted to protect, he also wanted to protect something, firstly the promise he made to himself to get stronger for the sake of the team, and now… One more person was added to that list.

For some reason he couldn't understand, his heart was more ardent than ever to train harder, to honor Shizuka's efforts, he needed to win along with the team. And some hours after the misunderstanding at the hospital, he was running again.

He stopped by the place where the accident happened, the break marks made by the tires were still there, many scenes came to his mind, faint memories about the days he had passed by that place, Shizuka always passed by there, with a smile on her face, and although he couldn't remember her smile nor did they talk much, she always greeted him respectfully, he wondered if that feeling was akin to nostalgia, thinking that scene strangely became a regular part of his daily visions.

Shizuka wouldn't be going by that path for some time now because she was hurt, furthermore, would she ever been able to go by that way again after what happened…? Those thoughts stormed inside his head, changing his calm expression into a deep frown of determination, he clenched his fists and started to run vigorously again. Faster, he had to get faster no matter what.

.

.

.

Sakuraba entered Joukamachi's hospital room with a worried expression, along with him Takami. The quarterback had a faint smile that enlarged when he saw Shizuka was conscious, he carried a flower bouquet in courtesy, she chuckled.

"Everyone…"

"Shizuka-chan, are you feeling well?" Sakuraba's eyes couldn't avert from the sling supporting her right arm.

"I'm fine, thanks for visiting…"

"What about coach Gunpei? Isn't he here?" the back-haired arranged the flowers on a vase carefully.

"I asked my father to leave, I'll be fine here, there is prepared personnel to take care of everything, he has lots of work to do with you, right?"

"But, wasn't it a grave accident?" the young idol asked hesitantly.

"I'll recover soon, the doctors said it was a miracle I only broke my arm and got some bruises, it was because the rider diverted the vehicle before hitting me fully… I'll probably leave the hospital in one week."

"I heard Shin was involved in the accident too… Where is he?" the teenager adjusted his glasses keenly.

"Ah, he almost got hit too, but he's fine… I guess he's probably training now…" she made a supposition, but she was right.

"Training? At a time like this?" Sakuraba raised his brow in amusement for the insensibility of his friend.

"Well…" a drop of sweat rolled down her face when she remembered the last scene with her father "More importantly, I will be able to watch the matches if I recover soon."

"But-"

And she changed the focus of the conversation, unfortunately they couldn't stay for a long time, the eerie nurse of the hospital expelled them from the room saying she needed to rest.

.

.

.

One week after, Shizuka was back to the school, her classmates inquired about the whole incident, but she did not tell the details.

The three bullies were partially satisfied with Shizuka's wounds since they have been wishing to take some sort of revenge. A devilish smirk was born on their lips as they had a good plan.

When Shizuka went to pick her shoes on her school's wardrobe at the entrance of the building, but they weren't there. She looked around and saw the shoelaces falling over the top of the wardrobes.

She stretched her hand with some difficulty to pick it, but with her height she couldn't reach it, also, her arm hurt a bit. She tried to stand at the tip of her toes, but it wouldn't suffice too, then a hand stretched and picked it. She turned swiftly to look at the person, struck with surprise:

"Shin…?"

"Here." He handed it to her.

"Thank you." She smiled brightly.

Sakuraba exchanged glances between those two, they seemed to have gotten closer, it was what he felt, and for some reason he also felt he shouldn't interrupt the moment, however…

"Shizuka-chan, do you have any idea about how your shoes went up there?" he narrowed his eyes to look at the top of the wardrobe "It's very similar to something a bully would do."

"Ah, that must be some prank, or whatever. I don't really care." She answered with a confident smile.

Then, during the lunchtime they followed Shizuka at some distance. Sakuraba's brow twitched once, and he glanced at the serious face of his colleague who seemed unchanged. His impatience grew louder as the time passed and he reunited the courage to ask in a whisper:

"Shin, why exactly are we following Shizuka-chan?" he took a gulp of the water bottle on his hands.

"…" Shin stared featureless at his partner "I promised coach I would protect Shizuka as long as I live."

Sakuraba spit the water on his mouth and his eyes popped out with that declaration. Could it be…? Was his friend even aware of the meaning of those words?!

"Wait, wait a sec… Shin, don't tell me you really said it boldly to our coach…?" he couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes."

God! He was so naïve and straight! Impossible! How could he be so dense with such delicate matters?! Coach would kill him right away no matter if he was a star or anything! He could understand that Shin had the best intentions, of course, but would it be the same for the coach?! Or could it be that Shin has finally awaken for those sort of matters too? No, no way, he only had the training on mind. Moreover who the hell would ask someone's hand in an old fashioned way like that?

No, even before that, he was starting to doubt that Shin was not as aloof as he looked like and he had actually said that clearly knowing what it really meant.

"Shin, I know you must have thought something very clean, still…" he searched some words to explain it, but the black-haired interfered:

"Shizuka broke her arm to defend me… Even though she knew I'd probably not get seriously injured like her. She has said she wished to fight for Oujou on her own way too…"

There was something off about Shin's expression, it has softened in some way, but Sakuraba couldn't tell if it was pity or something else he missed along the subtly hints of worry his friend was demonstrating. The brown-haired was stunned… Did she really…?

When he observed the girl far away, he could never tell she had done such thing, her smile remained the same even after what happened, yet…

"Why…? Why would she do it?"

"If I got hurt, I wouldn't be able to play on the incoming matches, she was afraid that the team's productivity would decrease and that coach's efforts to train the team would be wasted…"

"Did she say that…?"

Sakuraba was still bewildered, but when Shin closed his fists in a firm grip, and frowned, he finally believed.

"That's why I promised I would repay her efforts."

He was impressed to listen to that, never had he heard about Shin declaring his intentions so clearly. But soon, the young idol recollected that he also vowed to someone he would win, and he could perfectly understand Shin's feelings. What a heavy responsibility… Coach, Torakichi and now, Shizuka… They were filled with the expectations of many people who supported them, and although it was supposed to put them under an unbearable pressure, instead, he felt lighter. It was because, inside his heart, he felt the warmth of those feelings deposited into him. Shin would probably be feeling the same.

"I see…" he smiled faintly "It means we need to dedicate even more, for Shizuka-chan too, right?" he patted his friend's shoulder.

Shin was surprised with that gesture, it was the first time he had seen his friend getting more motivated, he would usually feel depressed and lose his confidence, but those feelings he accepted seemed like iron to forge a harder armor for that knight.

"Let's win the fall tournament, Shin, and show people that the White Knights had not abandoned the Kingdom!"

The linebacker only nodded firmly, their conviction was honed like a knight'sblade to pierce through the enemies who stood on their way. It was time to show the Kingdom had not ended yet!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Yay, readers! See chapter 218 from Eyeshield 21 for more references about what she was talking during the first part of the chapter!


	5. Before the Autumn Tournament

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 05:** Before the Autumn tournament

The whole team was training inside the gymnasium, Sakuraba watched as Shin lifted 140 kilos, raising a brow, his friend never failed to surprise him.

"He is training even harder…"

"Hahaha!" Ootawara laughed out loud "Shin seems motivated!" he poked on his nose.

"I can't stay still too…"

Sakuraba lifted 70 kilos and started to train harder too, it was the time for him to dedicate himself to the sport, investing on a dream.

"Shin is not the only one motivated here…" Takami chuckled casting a discreet glance to the receiver.

"Oooh, are they competing or something?" Ootawara farted. "Ah, it came out."

"No…" Takami adjusted his glasses "They're only trying to improve, each one on their own …" he smiled assured, his hopes for those two were high, they'd show everyone how Oujou had become a fortified castle.

.

.

.

Kobayakawa Sena run through the streets avoiding people with his coward and nervous expression, he carried many plastic bags on hands. His memory recollected Hiruma threatening him with a handgun and saying "Buy some video tapes and snacks for everyone, come fast, fucking shorty!" and shoot him until he ran away from the clubroom.

Sena whined remembering the lamentable happening and during his lapse, he almost bumped into someone, on the last second, with his full-speed he evaded with a spin, but one of the bags he carried fell to the ground.

"Ieeek! Hiruma will kill me!" he got desperate, putting his hand on head.

"Ah… I'm sorry…"

The person standing near him was a girl, he immediately noticed the arm sling supporting her right arm, her expression told she felt somewhat guilty, although it was not her fault.

"Ah, no, I'm the one to apologize here…" he scratched his nape sweating a bit "I was running wildly, I should pay more attention to my surroundings…"he bowed apologetically.

She smiled gently and her face indicated he didn't need to apologize, however, that moment was abruptly cut off when someone bumped into her again. She squinted her eyes feeling pain since it hit her wounded side, and stepped onward by the force. Sena frowned, the one who had bumped into her was a seemingly delinquent boy who was taller and had an intimidating look.

"Iiiek, he smells like trouble…" he thought, but his fear vanished when he looked at the injured girl in front of him, she seemed worried "That guy bumped into her intentionally…"

"Hey, don't stand like that in the middle of the way!" the man told in an arrogant manner.

"Calm down." A slightly smaller brown-haired teenager touched that man's shoulder, his sloppy eyes transmitted a calm vibe, but there was something off about his peaceful behavior "You've hit the girl, apologize."

"H-huh?" the man was confused.

"I'm sorry, dear, he has no manners." The calm teen swiftly pulled Shizuka's healthy hand and kissed its back.

She instantly pulled her hand back in a defensive way and frowned even more, now she was preoccupied. Sena could see, for a very brief moment, the way the lips of that brown-haired formed a cynical smirk in delight. He gulped, that man seemed perilous.

His eyes immediately searched for a route to escape, he discreetly looked at Shizuka's hand, ready to grab her wrist and run away with her to escape from those delinquents. The situation was dire, there were many people on the streets, the paths he could see were too straight for two people, but he had to help her some way.

"Calm there, buddy, if you want to hold hands with your girlfriend, you should've never let go of her hand…" the brown-haired stripling had a perfectly polite smile, he had seen Sena's eyes focusing on the hand of the girl, he was so easy to read.

Sena felt a shiver run down his spine, the more he looked at that man, the more his senses alerted him he was dangerous.

"How… How did he notice I was planning to grab her hand to run…?"

The three boys on the scene got startled when Shizuka suddenly stepped in front of Sena, with her brows knotted in vexation as if she wanted to threat those delinquents.

"I'm sorry if I bumped into you, but if you excuse us, we have lots of appointments to attend to."

She grabbed onto Sena's hand, much to his surprise and dragged him away from the delinquents. Her eyes averted to the side to ascertain if they were being persecuted, fortunately, they were not, those two delinquents were standing at the same spot as before. A drop of sweat rolled down, then she hurried her steps and looked to the running back:

"I'm sorry, but we need to fasten up our steps, can you do that?"

"H-huh y-yes, b-but-" he stuttered blushing, he was being helped by a girl again, he wanted to act like a grown-up man, it was a shame that things hadn't changed at all.

She let go of his hand and they both started to walk fast, almost running, looking back, then, the boys had vanished from their sight.

"Where are them?" Shizuka stopped, looking around warned.

The light speed running back flashed his eyes through the crowds, but he couldn't find a trace of those delinquents, his heart raced and he sighed feeling a feeble relief.

"I guess they went away…" he put his hand on chest, smiling assured.

"I'm sorry, one of your bags was lost…" she smiled clumsily.

"No, no." he gestured exaggeratedly "The most important thing it's that you're fine… Now that I have mentioned it… Are you really fine? I' mean, your arm…"

"Ah, this?" she chuckled "That will heal soon without problems! I'm healthy!" she clenched her good fist tightly and Sena had the slight impression she used too much strength on it that she could crush anything on her grip.

"By the way, I-"

Before he completed that sentence, he felt a hand pushing him, he stumbled one step ahead, looking back. The two delinquents again?! How did they find him? His eyes opened in an incipient fear.

"Hey there, you can't let your things behind. We came to give it back…" the brown-haired good-looking delinquent showed the plastic bag Sena had left like he was doing a favor.

"You… How…?" the running back gulped when fear started to set motion inside him.

"Of course, we came to talk to that cutie there too. So take this thing and get out of the way!" the tallest and sulky delinquent practically threw the plastic bag to Sena who grabbed it clumsily in the middle of the air.

Shizuka frowned at them and Sena sweated aplenty. No, it wasn't time to his cowardice to surge, he needed to find a route to escape, unfortunately, their backs were turned to a straight alley which was a dead end, and both the delinquents were positioned in a way blocking his path, but if he jumped and thrusted one of them to the side, the girl could run away, and when he made sure she had ran away, he would use his agility to run too.

When he was still deciding which plan he would use to help the young lady to escape, his sight only could see a hand coming closer his face, for instinct, he curved his head back, but it wasn't enough and a punch stroke his face. He had fallen sitting to the ground inside the alley, touching the newly-injured nose which was tomato red and bleeding a bit.

"W-why did he do that?" he grimaced glaring at the good-looking delinquent that seemed pretty pleased with the scene "Sorry, it seems you wouldn't listen to us, so, I'm shortening the explanations…" he squatted down and looked into Sena's eyes. "You. Get. Out." He pronounced slowly each word to make himself clear in a menacing way.

Sena frowned slightly. His heart accelerated in the urgency of doing something, with his body he couldn't fight two delinquents at the same time, but only if he could tackle and bring one of the down…

The brown-haired teen seemed to read his intentions and picked a small knife from his pocket, putting it near Sena's face. He froze in place, but on the next second, it was the good looking delinquent that got far from him, the opponent was trying to avoid from something that came fast and violently to strike him.

The three men looked at the apparently inoffensive girl when she almost kicked the brown-haired. Shizuka scowled and her irritation gave a serious aspect to her face.

"Oho… Are you angry? How sweet."

"Listen here, you get out! Stop picking on him!" she put herself in front of Sena and he remembered the times when Mamori defended him.

"Huh… I guess it exceeded the definition of 'picking' here, he used a knife…" Sena stood up and his legs wobbled.

"What a brave one we have here, let's see if you braveness will-" the leader provoked.

On the following moment, their eyes watched a scene in a slow motion, although everything happened in a second: tightening her fist, Shizuka took an impulse and punched the good-looking delinquent straight on face before he could finish his sentence. Both Sena and the taller delinquent were flabbergasted as the boy fell to the ground, certainly it was not a weak punch seeing how the nose of the fallen delinquent was bleeding and he even dropped his weapon.

"How is she that strong?!" Sena's imagination portrayed two images of the girl as both angel and demon.

After the punch, however, her broken arm hurt, she did her best to hide she was actually feeling pain and continued with her closed fist to punch them again if necessary. The back of her hand was red, she had used too much force to deliver that blow.

"H-ugh… Your…" the brown-haired was shocked when he saw the drops of blood on his nose. He gnashed and looked at the girl "Bitch!"

The delinquent stood up picking his knife again dashing to seriously harm the girl. Sena couldn't think in anything else, his body moved on its own as he put himself in front of her, opening his arms to shield the attack with his own body, he closed his eyes and firmed his feet on the ground, praying that he could at least protect her.

The blade never reached his body, his eyes opened in a hurry when he heard a thud. The delinquent had been tossed to the ground again, but this time by a completely different person: in front of him was Shin, and it seems he had just used his spear tackle to knock the man to the ground, he still was adjusting his gloves after the hit.

Sena shivered, his body remembered the pain of being tackled by Shin, but he couldn't feel pity for the delinquent. He only thanked god that this time that the linebacker was on his side. His eyes concentrated on the scene unraveling, the brown-haired delinquent started to stand up with difficult, touching his ribs.

" **Get lost."**

Those were Shin's only words, but his expression had a strong, dark and menacing tone. A heavy aura seemed to emanate from him as he told that and his eyes were cold. That was enough to scare those delinquents.

Oujou's best player had his serious, collected posture, but some sort of powerful and intimidating aura emanated for him, making the running back wonder if he was upset, even though he didn't talk much, the severity imbued on his tone was enough to give credibility for them to believe it would be dangerous to mess with him, just like the time whe they chased a robber.

The two trouble-makers also quivered and unconsciously stepped back, gulping, they took a last glance to Shizuka before running away.

"Shin-san… We're saved…" Sena breathed deeply in relief as his body staggered with a delayed reaction of fear after the fight.

The linebacker's gaze landed on Sena, but he did not say any word, his eyes averted to the girl standing behind the running back.

"Are you all right?"

"I am… H-huh?" Sena exchanged glances between Shin and the girl, a bit lost on the whole situation.

"I'm fine, he protected me, right?" Shizuka patted Sena's shoulder once and smiled.

"H-huh… I guess so?" the running back scratched the back of his head smiling faintly and timidly.

Truth to be told, his only internal thoughts were that he couldn't tell who was protecting who anymore since she was the one who punched that delinquent. When he paid attention to Shin again, he shrieked internally again and his whole body shivered in fear, for some unknown reason, the linebacker had a gnarled, grave expression, like he was irritated about something.

"What did I do?! I can't understand this guy…" Sena thought sweating and fearing he would be tackled like that delinquent.

"Anyways, what are you doing here, Shin?"

This time the girl happily walked to the side of the linebacker. Given the situation, the eyeshield 21 raised a brown, wondering if she knew the other player.

"Huh, thank you, Shin-san, but… I'm also curious to know how you've found us." he questioned.

"…. I saw you two running and followed you…" he answered vaguely.

"Ah, we were trying to run from those guys, fortunately you helped us, haha…"

"Huh? Do you know each other?" Shizuka switched her glance from Shin to Sena with a hint of curiosity on her voice.

"Well…" Sena was reluctant to answer.

"He is the eyeshield 21, a player of Deimon Devil Bats." The one who gave the answer was the quiet black-haired.

"Eyeshield 21?! Wow? That famous player? That's incredible!" she looked enthusiastic "Thank you for helping me back then." She bowed slightly.

"A-ah, don't worry, that was not…"

Her focus of attention changed again when she got startled remembering something, then she looked at the linebacker who was way taller than her.

"By the way, Shin, what were you doing near here? Don't tell me you were running…"

"No… I came to pick you." His blunt statement startled both the listeners.

"Ah… Shin …" she blurted out a bit abashed.

"H-huh what does it mean? What's going on here?" Sena nervously exchanged glances, of course he wouldn't know that the linebacker was referring to a certain promise he had done. "I can't understand what is happening here…"

"And…" he continued, surprising the other two again. He had a faintly troubled expression, he took something out of his pocket "Wakana asked me to come and give you something you forgot in the clubroom…"

Both Sena and the girl looked at the object on Shin's hand, it was supposed to be a cellphone but the moment he picked it, his thumb pressed a bit the middle of the device and the object was instantly parted in two, with cracks spreading all over the two parts.

"How did it happeeeeen?" Sena eyes popped out in astonishment.

"My second cellphone this year…" she sweated.

"….?" The linebacker had question marks above his head, still confused about how it had broken and unaware he was the main problem.

Shizuka forced a kindly smile, and stared worriedly at the pieces of the device. But she ignored the situation, gesturing leisurely:

"T-that's not a problem right? I'll just tell father some problems occurred here and there and it ended like that…"

"It's impossible that 'some problems' could get your cellphone like that." it was what Sena thought, but he preferred to hold that opinion for himself.

"Huh, I guess we should go back to school now…" she said with some kind of dismay. "You have your training for today and I have to talk to my father…"

"Huh? Do you study on Oujou too?" Sena was surprised, she wasn't wearing her uniform, and neither Shin was.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I almost forgot to tell my name… I'm Shoji Shizuka from Oujou, nice to meet you." She bowed briefly.

"Kobayakawa Sena, from Deimon…" he bowed shyly.

"We need to go now or we will get scolded, thank you for taking care of me today." She smiled gently.

"Ah, that's nothing." Sena scratched his head bashfully, he flushed after seeing her gentle smile.

"Also… Here…" she searched something on the pocket of her skirt and took out a white blue-laced handkerchief with Oujou's team mascot and name sewed on it. "Please, take care of your nose, I hope it doesn't hurt too much…"

"Ah…" he scratched his head clumsily.

She waved her hand with a kind smile on her face, as for Shin, for some reason, he had an intense expression again, just like he had on the games. Sena felt a chill running down his spine and wondered why his rival was glaring at him like that.

"Huh?" Sena analyzed the handkerchief "That's Oujou's blazon and there's White Knights name sewed on it too… Could it be she's a fan of the White knights? Is she a cheerleader, maybe? I have the impression I've heard her name before… Shoji… Where was it…?" he looked at the bright sky above, trying to remember where he had listened that name, but it was inutile, then a fearsome memory stroke him and his body oscillated "Oh, no! I have to run or Hiruma will kill me!"

He grabbed fast all the plastic bags and run with his full speed back to Deimon's football club, unfortunately, when he arrived, it was too late and he received Hiruma's punishment, having to make strange positions to avoid the dangerous bullets.

In the middle of the fuss, he let the handkerchief fall to the ground, Hiruma's eyes instantly locked on the object and his devilish smirk enlarged. Where had Sena picked that thing? Did it mean he know someone from Oujou? Interesting, it seems his information sources would increase once again. His devil laugh soared in the room as his eyes sparkled evilly.


	6. A renewed Star

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 06:** A renewed Star

Shizuka rummaged on her skirt's pockets, patting her skirt, checking inside the pockets, looking on the ground around to ascertain if something had dropped, but there wasn't a single object on the ground.

"What's the matter, Shizuka-chan?" Sakuraba looked curiously at the girl.

"Ah, I guess I've lost my handkerchief…" she sighed disappointed.

"Handkerchief?" he approached "Are you sure it's not on your bag or on another place?"

"Hm…" she tapped her finger on her cheek and thought deeply, trying to remind something until her eyes meet Shin's insipid expression and her mind enlightened after some seconds "Ah, I've just remembered."

"Did you forget it at home?"

"No…" she chuckled "I've lent it to someone…"

Sakuraba smiled in response, on the other way, Shin had a deep frown on face. "What is wrong with him?" it was what the receiver wondered internally, however, he didn't ask that question directly, his friend was a reserved person and he knew that he shouldn't force many questions on him, Shin would demonstrated whatever was bothering him or even solve the matter before they knew what it was.

"By the way… The tournament starts next week… Aren't you anxious?" she questioned smiling animatedly.

"I am…" Sakuraba felt a heavy thump on his chest remembering how hard he had been training those last months. Tomorrow everything he had endeavored for would be put at prove. "But, Shizuka-chan, there's something stirring my curiosity…"

A drop of sweat formed on his face when he looked at the healthy hand of the girl, it was covered in bandages.

"What happened to your hand? I thought that…" he glanced at Shin not completing that he supposed the linebacker was being overprotective around her and wouldn't allow she got injured again "Never mind… Did you get hurt somewhere? Your injuries should be healing, but I can only see them increasing, that's quite preoccupying."

"Huh? Ah this…" she looked at her own hand and answered with a smile. "I punched a delinquent yesterday but his face was so hard it hurt my hand!" she giggled.

"Whaaat?!" his eyes widened in astonishment, more for the tone and the face she used to tell that than the story itself.

"….." even the disinterested Shin was paying close attention.

"Shizuka-chan…" he said in disbelief "W-what did you say…?"

What scared more him was the fact that she told them she had punched a guy with a bright smile on her face, like it was not something unusual.

"You see, there were some delinquents picking on me and Sena-san, they hit Sena-san and I was very irritated, then I punched one of them!" she told calmly making many facial interpretations and clenching her fists feeling victorious.

"If I remember well, she was carrying like 50 kilos to the clubroom… Moreover she's coach's daughter…" his thoughts established a comprehensible logic. "Could it be that she's more similar to Shogun than we thought?"

His imagination could depict perfectly an image of their coach with a dark aura around him, and a smiling Shizuka with the same dark aura, closing her fists with veins popping out of her hands. His imagination was irrupted when he finally noticed something.

"Wait… With Sena… Do you mean… Kobayakawa Sena?"

"Yes!" she nodded frantically "He's incredibly fast and-"

"Shoji! There's visit for you!" a girl from the classroom called out.

Shizuka beckoned and hurriedly left the classroom, but the receiver was still taking the situation with some discredit.

"Shin… Did you know she was that strong to punch a delinquent?"

"She has good muscles." He answered like it was obvious, and his friend couldn't help but gasp.

"You said it already… That's not what I…" he stopped middle-sentenced and gave up "Sheesh… Forget it… She seems very animated to the opening ceremony tomorrow… But… I kinda feel like she's not the only one…"

He clenched his fists with a smile of enthusiasm and a palpitation that his heart had never felt before. He too was very eager to take part in the tournament, after all, it would be the first time he would be playing after training hard and dedicating his whole self to it.

.

.

.

 **Night time, one day left to the tournament**

 **Oujou's high school**

The members of the team had already gone home, but Gunpei was sitting on his office inside the clubroom studying some statistics and strategies against other teams. He grumbled looking intensely to the papers on his hands, and his concentration wasn't broken even when he listened to the low sound of the door opening.

"What are you doing here?"

Even without looking at the person, he knew who it was, his hand calmly placed the sheet of paper he was reading above the desk and he turned half of his attention to the newcomer. Shizuka entered the clubroom carrying a cup of hot coffee. She smiled shyly after her father noticed she was there and answered in a good-mood:

"I would ask the same, father." She put the cup of coffee on his desk "I came to bring it, but shouldn't you be resting for tomorrow?"

"Humph. I can't rest any bit, it's never enough no matter how you study…"

His harsh, calm manner elicited a chuckle on the girl, that was exactly how her father was, a man whose rigorousness was expressed on face, a typical coach of American football. He knew well his players and did his best to train them harder and make them become the best, she admired his tenacity.

"Don't stay awake until late, everyone needs rest, and you need to set the example."

"And you should be at home already." he crossed his arms starting a scold, and closed his eyes with the next sentence "Your sister will be angry if you arrive late."

"…" the liveliness on her smile disappeared for a moment and the curve on her lips was nothing more than an empty adorn to her face "I know…"

"If you know that, hurry up and go home already! Moreover, stop coming to the club room, you're not allowed to come and go as you please!"

She smiled helplessly at her father's preoccupations, the quantity of problems he enlisted were bottomless. Shizuka bowed and prepared to leave, before her hand reached the doorknob, the door suddenly opened in a burst.

"Coach… I've finished my training."

Shin announced with an erect posture, entering the room. His brows were casually coming together and he was covered in sweat, Shizuka stepped back for a moment when he suddenly barged into the clubroom, but sighed in relief on the next second, smiling a bit concerned.

"Shin…? What are you still doing here?" Gunpei said a bit surprised. "You need to go home and rest, today the tournament will start… And I don't remember telling you to run until this hour…" he took a peek at his wrist clock "It's eleven PM already…"

"I decided to extend my running time." He admitted with an unwavering determination.

Shizuka chuckled discreetly, covering her smile with the back of her hand. She couldn't help but noticed how similar they were to each other, training to extremes, that severity, had he been on parallel world, Shin could be his son instead of her.

"It's not time to laugh, Shizuka, it's not the time for a lady to be out home." the trainer glared at her, she almost jumped when he directed that rigorous voice at her, sweating a bit.

"T-then, see you tomorrow…" she bowed to both of them and left the room hastily.

Shin followed her with eyes as she disappeared from their sight, entranced like his eyes were distant for a moment, pondering about something. On the following moment, the coach yelled at him:

"What are you still doing here? Go home, you need to be in a good physical state tomorrow! I've explained it, your muscles need to rest properly or they won't work and you can get strains if you force them too much!"

Shin fidgeted and bowed, leaving the place immediately. Shogun stared at the door and linked the facts, Shin was still there and his daughter was… He was openly saying he'd take care of Shizuka recently… His expression was nowhere near happiness after he noticed something and his mood changed:

"No way!" he punched the desk making the object tremble with his strength, discounting his stress.

.

.

.

Shizuka was on the school's garden near the entrance gates her senses tingled when she felt there was someone approaching, she turned almost instantly, just to find it was someone she knew…

"Shin…" she sighed in relief, touching her accelerated heart. "Weren't you talking to coach?"

"He dismissed me. I need to have a proper rest before the tournament."

"I see…" she chuckled. "He told that, but he is taking a lot of efforts by himself… I've said he had to settle the example, but…" she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I'm going home." She bowed.

"…." He followed her.

"Hm…" she stopped with a drop of sweat on her face, sometimes it was hard to tell what his inexpressive face wanted to say "… Are you going to the train station?" she was aware that his whole dedication was solely to atone for his uselessness on the last incident, but she still though his endeavor was cute.

"I'll accompany you."

"Ah, don't bother yourself, please. Our house is nearby, I'll be there soon…"

"No, I'll take this opportunity to run the whole way home." His grave expression told he wasn't kidding, she smiled hopeless he would give up the whole idea of protecting her and training as he did so.

He seemed utterly devoid of the concept of "relaxing", he didn't give a break to himself, it was what concerned her the most, to tell the truth.

"Ah, by the way…" her eyes had a glint of curiosity "Have you seen Sakuraba-kun? He missed classes the whole week… Could it be he is anxious about the tournament or did something happen?" her eyes reflected some worry.

"… I don't know…"

She almost forgot that Shin usually didn't talk too much with people, aside from his beloved football, he wouldn't have long conversations, even with Sakuraba that was the closest person to the concept of a "friend" for him. It was useless to ask him about that, and her concern remained the same. Could it be that he was sick or was he skipping classes to do something else?

"….."

Shin knew what was off about Sakuraba, during the summer training the receiver in person talked to him. He felt some sort of dismay and inferiority, but that was not a matter he could help. No matter which answer he gave to Sakuraba, the idol would only feel more saddened, thus his silence was the best response he could give.

He couldn't tell it to Shizuka, of course, it was a personal issue of Sakuraba. In addition, he couldn't give more preoccupations to her. Every time his eyes caught the sight of his broken arm, a feeling of guilty stroke him, more than that, his excessive training was a form of punishment for not doing anything. Shin Seijurou was a man who honored his vows, and his accomplishments until know are the proof of his success. He had increased his trainings after the accident because he felt there was something lacking and if it was otherwise, he could've impeded the tragedy from happening, but crying over the past was not his style, that's why he was doing his best to not allow that to happen ever again.

.

.

.

 **On the day of the opening ceremony**

Shizuka was prohibited by her father of talking to the players during the event, so she had to go to the bleachers and watch, she ended staying near Torakichi and his friends. After the training on Mount Fuji, everyone from the team came back with a different air, mainly Sakuraba. Shin always had that stern and imposing posture, so it was not a surprise he would get even better after the intense training of her father.

Shogun had crossed arms watching as other teams entered, she chuckled, he had that sulky face, but he must be really eager to see his team's performance after his rigorous lectures. Then, a bright smile opened on her face when the next team was announced:

"Deimon Devil bats!" from distance she localized the figure of the short Eyeshield 21.

"Sena-san is really there… He seems so small compared to the others…"

But when he wore that uniform, for some reason she felt something changed about the vibe he transmitted. She wondered if it was the reason Shin considered him a worthy opponent. She wanted to see of what that Eyeshield 21 was made.

Then, finally, the moment she was expecting, the entrance of her favorites: Oujou White Knights. Torakichi almost jumped out of joy, cheering for the team, but his eyes sparkled as he searched for his idol. To tell the truth, many fans of the young model (and receiver) also were anxiously passing her eyes by the players entering.

"Where is Sakuraba?!" one of them asked nervously.

"He is the number 18, so…" Torakichi smiled.

Shizuka localized the number fast, but, like the others the only reaction she had was stupefaction. His appearance changed so drastically he couldn't be called a model anymore. A worried thought invaded her mind:

"Until yesterday he was different… Why did he choose to change so much…?" her brows curled in concern, soon it dissipated and a faint smile came to her face "Maybe, he wanted to show he has changed now..."

Now the tournament would finally begin, but would Oujou break the infame, she put a hand on her chest, she only hoped that finally her father could realize his dream.


	7. Sakuraba Haruto

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 07:** Sakuraba Haruto

There was an uproar happening around Sakuraba's desk, most of the boys of the class were joking about his new haircut, and some of them were quite happy that after that, the girls seemed to cool down about their extreme fangirling.

Shizuka cupped her chin on her hand, supporting her healthy elbow on her desk, smiling cheerily. Before many of the guys would feel jealous and growl at the receiver, but after he changed his posture, they guys suddenly became friendly with him, although, he has lost plenty of fans.

"Sakuraba seems happier now, don't you think?" she asked Shin in a low tone.

"….." Shin's expression denounced he was completely at loss of what to say, but he surprisingly found a good answer "He had been training harder since the summer training, it's expected he would feel anxious to see the results…"

The linebacker who was usually recluse and had nothing but apathy towards people, was talking about his friend now. Shizuka chuckled, of course she knew he wasn't completely devoid of worries, the question was just he wasn't a man who wasted words, if he had something to do, he'd do it instead of blabbering about it.

While the guys made a fuss over Sakuraba's new looks, there were people who weren't a bit happy about his change. The trio of bullies was unsatisfied. The leader, a brown-haired girl was biting her thumb nervously.

"Why…? Why have Sakuraba-sama changed like that?!" she mumbled in a low, irritated tone.

"What did happen? How can a person change so much in one month?!" the second delinquent whined in a low sound, biting a handkerchief, almost ripping it apart. "He was so cute before, and now… He looks like a troglodyte!"

"I've heard it was because of the harsh trainings… He is part of the football club, right? I've heard they call the coach 'Shogun' because of his rigorous trainings… Maybe, he got brainwashed by the other members or worse, he was forced to look like that only to fit the team! It's a nightmare!" she moaned in pity for the young receiver.

"So, they forced him to train until he changed this much… This is a heinous crime!" the leader snapped "Moreover, that girl…" her face was red filled with rage "After that girl approached Sakuraba-sama, he has…" her eyes narrowed menacingly "We need to take care of her first and show Sakuraba-sama he doesn't need to be in the football club, he wasn't born to do such dangerous sport, he is better as a model, I'm sure of that!"

"But, we've done many things and she didn't even flinch… I mean… The girl is tough, she got in a motorcycle accident, had her arm broken and was back to school in one week!"

"No one can be so strong, you'll see, we'll press her until she gives up!" the leader exclaimed to her companions.

While they planned how to "save" their dear Sakuraba from the claws of the football club and take care of the hindrance, namely, Shizuka, the latest felt a chill running down her spine.

She touched her nape with a bad sensation, like someone had been watching her. The honey orbs of the girl explored the classroom, but aside from the big group of classmates swarming around Sakuraba, she couldn't see anything suspect, even those delinquents who bullied her, they were nowhere to be seen, a drop of sweat rolled down her face, why was she experimenting that bad premonition? A familiar voice disrupted her thoughts:

"… Are you feeling well?"

Shin's expression had a slight hint of concern, which was a very rare sight; she could see it even when he had the same placid frown on his brows, even the tone of his voice signalized it.

"I'm fine…" she smiled to shove away his preoccupations, but he didn't seem fully convinced, nonetheless, he swerved back on his seat and focused on the commotion happening near Sakuraba's seat.

.

.

.

During the break for lunch, the receiver felt lighter, before he would be constantly be the target of the passionate glances from his fangirls, but now he still received some glances, although for a complete difference reason since most of them were demotivated or even cried after taking a glance. However, for the first time on his life, he didn't bother with that, because he understood that, the people who really worried about him, would be with him regardless of those superficial images the others portrayed and would support his decisions, making him grow instead of impeding him.

He stopped in the middle of the corridor as if something had struck his mind and fidgeted before turning back.

"Sakuraba, the training will start soon…" Shin commented thinking that the boy could be planning to escape.

"I know, but, I just remembered I forgot my wallet… I'll be there in a minute."

Shin sighed and followed him, what was that sudden partnership he was exhibiting? It was funny. Perhaps, because Sakuraba has finally decided to fight for the team? It didn't matter. The moment he put a hand on his pocket and turned right to the next corridor, his eyes met a strange scene.

In front of him, only a few meters distant, Shizuka was being cornered into a wall by three girls, one in front of her and the other two blocking her sides, one of them was holding a schoolbag and playing with it in a threatening way. It was clearly bullying. The red-haired didn't look intimidated, but Sakuraba couldn't restrain himself:

"Hey, what are you doing?!" he called the out, stepping onwards, closing his fists.

The three bullies instantly dismantled their positions, they got nervous and blushed while Shizuka only was surprised to see both her classmates there, that corridor was supposed to be empty since most of the students were outside for lunch, she took the opportunity to get away from the wall, but the delinquents weren't paying attention to her anymore, they had their eyes fixed on their star:

"S-Sakuraba-sama…" the leader blushed but recomposed instantaneously "Y-you!" she turned angered to the red-haired. "You're a nuisance too! Just look, with this whole thing about football, our Sakuraba-sama now is…" she almost cried.

"E-eh?" the receiver's mouth twitched. "What is happening here?"

"She is right, we know that you've been visiting the football club, but Sakuraba-sama has never been so attached to football, he even got hurt, and worse, now he has become one of those brute players!" the other delinquent cried.

"I'm completely lost here…" the receiver thought trying to understand what exactly his fangirls were trying to imply.

"That's all your fault and fault of that team too!" the third girl pushed Shizuka.

The red haired stumbled one step back and both Shin and Sakuraba got worried. The girl had hit exactly on her broken arm.

"Hey! Stop!" the young idol nervously shouted. Why were they so angry with Shizuka?

"No!" the leader of the delinquents stomped the ground obstinate "Just listen here, girl," she pushed Shizuka for the second time "We will find a way to take Sakuraba-sama out of the club that is making him suffer so much he was obliged to change! Just you-"

The next moment the delinquent raised her hand, her wrist was grabbed. Surprisingly, it was none of the boys who did that, they were still far from the girl but Shizuka herself who snapped and grabbed the wrist of her tormentor with her healthy hand. Her face had a serious, darker tone as she stared at the delinquent.

"No, **you** pay heed to my words, **girl.** "

The brown-haired delinquent struggled to break free from her grip, but the more she tried, more desperate she got after noticing that, for some unknown reason, a girl with a broken arm was stronger than her.

"I-it hurts! W-what are you doing?!" the next time she pulled her writs, Shizuka let go of her.

The usually peaceful honey eyes of the smiling red-haired were deadly cold and a consistent frown molded on her face.

"Shizuka-chan…?" Sakuraba gulped, it was the first time he felt a chilling sensation coming from the generally warm Shizuka. "I'd never guess she had inherited Shogun's tenacious spirit…!"

Shizuka gave one step onwards and the delinquent's leader gulped scared, but her courage inflamed again and she stood in front of Shizuka as the other two gave her support hesitantly standing by her side.

"You keep blabbering about Sakuraba like you could really understand, moreover you insult Oujou's team like they were a bunch of degenerated players, I can see you really don't understand anything…" her frown accentuated "Listen, you can put your feet to make me trip, hide my shoes, or even hit my wounds, I couldn't careless, to tell the truth, I'll only laugh at your infantile behavior, but-" he lungs were filled with air as she scolded

"What is she talking about?" the receiver tried to link the facts, but his comprehension about the matter was foggy.

Shin's brows furrowed as he watched the scene, he too was becoming impatient with that situation, yet, was the reason Shizuka had been ignoring this for the team and for Sakuraba? Has she allowed to be treated like the whole time because she didn't want to trouble him? She knew about the bullies the whole time, yet… His fists clenched involuntarily.

Unaware of the reactions from watchers behind her, Shizuka simply continued her lecture:

"If you ever try to do something to the team, be sure one or two broken limbs won't be enough to stop me."

Her eyes were set into fire, like there was a blaze burning deep inside them, something that amazed and shocked the three girls at the same time.

"Moreover…" a vein popped out of her forehead "If you really do admire Sakuraba-kun so much, shouldn't you be happy he has finally taken a decision on his own?!" she exclaimed "He decided to train and dedicate to another job instead of being a model, if you really wanted to help, you should support him instead of blaming the others! He's not your puppet! No one can do what the others wan forever! If you can't see that, then get lost!"

She bumped the girl strongly, and the leader of those bullies stumbled one step back, astonished with her sudden change of behaving.

"Shizuka-chan…"

The receiver's eyes flickered for a moment. So she knew the reason for his changes… She had been paying attention to it. Furthermore, every time it was about the team Shizuka carried a pure pride like she was a member of the team herself. He was admired with her courage to stand in for them like that. Never had he seen the girl so nervous, and although it could be frightening, he felt a flutter of happiness.

Not only had his teammates respected him. The coach, Torakichi and even Shizuka shared that feeling… He was sure that, just as they promised, they'd be watching and cheering for him. He felt his efforts were rewarded just by knowing those people were there for him.

"Y-you're talking nonsense! It's clear he isn't feeling right!" the leader of the bullies had a hesitant tone.

"You're being stupid!" one of the minions of the leader used her schoolbag to hit Shizuka's face.

The red-haired held the schoolbag before it hit her face and raised a brow, after all that she had said to them were they still inflexible? She took a deep breathe before proceeding, if words wouldn't help, then, she needed to resort to another means.

Her expression changed and she was completely calm, in a minute, she stole the school bag from the hands of the girl who shrieked.

The daughter of the coach slowly walked step by step to the windows nearby, in a way only her steps could be listened resounding through the corridor. She stopped in front of an opened window and stretched her healthy hand out of the building, the next scene happened fast, she dropped the bag from the window of the third floor, and a soft thud was heard due to the height they were.

"W-what did you do?!" the brown-haired girl ran to the window and took a peek outside, her bag had just splattered on the ground like cream, her belongings were all coming out. "My school bag is-"

Her eyes almost popped out and she touched her chest in pain, her cellphone, Sakuraba's album, all her precious belongings had fallen. Her blood boiled and her face reddened, she tightened the muscles of her hands to strangle Shizuka, but she stopped immediately and a shiver was sent to her spine the moment she looked at Shizuka's face.

The red-haired girl had a happy smile petrified on her face, like it was something sculpted to hide her killing intent, but it didn't impede a menacing aura from leaking out of her, sending signs that she was exactly what you could call a psychopath, she patted her hand on her uniform to clean the dust like she had done a good job. Even Sakuraba felt a quiver on his body when he watched the seemingly peaceful expression of Shizuka.

"Look, you don't have any right to complain since you've been doing similar things to my belongings too, right?" her smile remained impeccable "Then, the next time you **dare** to threat Sakuraba, Shin, or any other member of Oujou's White knights…" she clenched her fist a vein popped out of it, from the force she applied. Her gaze obscured more and her voice changed to a dry, cold tone as she pronounced those words "I'll drop you by the window the same way I did to your bag, got it?"

"Shizuka-chan really snaps when it's about the team!" Sakuraba's face was blue, how girls fighting could be even scarier than delinquent guys fighting?!

"Wha…" the leader of the delinquents trembled and stepped back, her eyes were teary.

The other two delinquents embraced themselves crying frightened with the macabre behavior of their fellow classmate and main rival. The leader started to run away and the other two followed her, the only shout that they heard was the phrase that echoed through the corridor:

"You monsteeeer! Wiiitch!"

When they vanished from their sight like they had not been there, Shizuka gave a heavy and long sigh, relaxing like a great burden had been released from her shoulders. The receiver gulped, he couldn't see Shizuka's expression, but he doubted she was feeling elated they were there, and he thought that maybe, only maybe it was better if they left her alone, no, frankly, he only was afraid she would treat him the same way she did to those delinquents and lecture him about something.

Before he solved his dilemma of talking to her or not, his friend has already approached with a slight frown on his brows, indeed a fearless man.

"Shizuka, are you allright?"

"Yes…" she chuckled, her mood was back to normal, this time she didn't seem to be forcing that smile. "I'm sorry for that… They're the sort of people who won't learn unless you make them experiment their own methods…" she felt somewhat like a culprit for scaring out the delinquents.

"H-huh… I'm still trying to figure out what was going on here…" Sakuraba had drops of sweat on his face, hesitant to approach.

Shin's fist clenched even more, his eyes which held a stern and cold glint had melted, and the only impression he could see was the sincerity he had. His frown was obliquus as he stared at Sakuraba who flinched. The linebacker's expression seemed to blame him from something. Then, he finally pronounced:

"It was because of you, Sakuraba."

"H-huh? Me?!" he pointed to himself confused, and Shizuka panicked.

"Shin, what are you saying?" she got startled and spurted in a lecturing tone, why was he telling that?

"Those girls had been bothering Shizuka for a while, but she was not willing to tell you afraid it could affect you in some way." The calmness was back to his face, but he seemed subtly annoyed by something.

"Shin!" she said in a scolding tone again, giving a soft hit on him "You weren't supposed to say it!" she gasped in disbelief.

"Shizuka-chan… Is it true…? It had been happening since a long time…?" Sakuraba's eyes oscillated filled with worry and pity.

Shin also stared at her with a stern gaze and she felt pressured by those two. Sighing heavily, she looked at him and her brows curled in preoccupation:

"It's true… But… I really don't bother…" she gestured troubled.

"It's not a matter of bothering or not…" Shin continued and she got startled "Not only they had ill intentions towards you, they intended to involve Sakuraba and the whole team… If you had told it sooner, the consequences wouldn't be so grave. Even if you had good intentions by not telling, omitting it wouldn't solve the problem, you should know that."

"Ah… Shin…" Sakuraba stretched his hand to hit his friend and tell he should not be so severe with a girl, but he stopped after taking a glance at Shizuka's expression.

Her eyes wavered and he could swear there were tears forming on it. After all, being lectured by Shin was not a joke, that strong and rigorous aura made it look worse, still, he understood he was only saying it for her sake, because he was worried.

"Everyone listen to what you says, Shin, but you shouldn't be so crude with a girl…" he thought and he opened his mouth to offer some words of comfort to her, but she immediately, lowered her head in apology.

"I'm sorry… Shin is right, I should've told it sooner… I just didn't want to worry you with such matter because I thought it would be a waste of time… There's no meaning in asking apologize now since it ended, but… If it happen ever a second time, I'll let you know immediately…" she bowed deeply.

Shin's rigorous posture dissipated like he had finally got what he wanted, even his eyes had changed, although it was not something noticeable, his orbs also displayed some sort of warmth for times to times. Sakuraba wondered if it was because of…

"Shizuka-chan… You don't need to apologize, I understand you must have worried this whole time… But you don't need to make such face, right?" he smiled gently and ruffled her head "I can take care of myself now, so you don't need to bother about such things…"

The same moment he ruffled her hair, a warning sensation invaded his body, like he had been receiving a killing intent direct to his back. His mouth twitched and he slowly turned his head to the side, the only one by his side was, of course, Shin who was scowling at him.

"What… Did I do now…?" he thought sweating aplenty while Shizuka smiled. He removed his hand from the top of her head, but the intense and almost irritated stare of his companion continued sending alerts to his mind.

He could never know what his companion was thinking even after being with him for so many years…

The next day, it would be Oujou's first match, against Sankaku punks, a team they had won by a single point difference only… How much had Oujou changed since the spring…?


	8. The Restauration of the Kingdom

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 08:** The Restauration of the Kingdom

September 18. It would be the day of the first match of Oujou in the autumn tournament, Shizuka was eager to see their performance. The last time, she watched as they lost to Shinryuuji Naga and she felt sad for them, but she was sure that this time, she would see a completely different sight, the true Oujou after their hard training on Mount Fuji.

Before the match started, she secretly planned to meet the players and took Torakichi with her. She pushed his wheelchair while looking at both sides inside the corridors that leaded to the field.

"Shizu-neechan, are you sure we will see them? Isn't it illegal?"

"Shhh..." she gestured with her finger "I'm a specialist in infiltration!" she chuckled, "Let's see them!"

She ran and the boy was enthusiastic like they were playing, but she stopped and her feet slid forming a small cloud of dust when she almost bumped into someone. Her heart was set into a race, was it her father or…?

"Torakichi?! Shizuka-chan…?" Sakuraba was surprised to see them. He looked around warningly "What are you doing here?" his voice had a low tone as he asked in suspicion that someone could be listening to them.

"I know it's prohibited, but we wanted to see you before the match!" the red-haired admitted with a soft smile.

"Ah…" Sakuraba scratched his head and after that, he closed his fists showing his wristband "I'll show you two some incredible receptions to you today. Just watch closely!"

"Yes!" the kid was more energetic.

The next moment, Torakichi's expression went from water to wine, his face suddenly got a blue color and his entire body trembled as he looked behind Sakuraba's. Shizuka also had a drop of sweat on her face, and the receiver immediately turned, he almost gasped when he saw his companion:

"S-Shin!"

The linebacker looked at the tree suspects who were breaking the rules: a woman, a child and a player. If someone had seen that, Sakuraba would surely get an advertence.

"Shin!" Shizuka beckoned unpreoccupied.

It only took him a second to find out the true mentor behind that invasion. Before he could sketch any response to that situation, another person appeared.

" **You…"**

That voice was quite familiar, the rigorous sound and even the solid noise of a vein popping out, they all looked at the entrance of the corridor where the coach of Oujou was standing with crossed arms, a roll of paper on hand and an irritated expression, along with him the short manager of the team.

"What are you doing here?!" he yelled at his daughter.

"Ah… Dad…" Shizuka had a drop of sweat rolling down her face. "No more scolding, please." it was what passed inside her head.

.

.

.

The scene switches to Sakuraba, Shin and Shizuka seating on their own legs with an erect posture, lowered head, and their hands on thigs, listening to the coach's lectures while Wakana pitied them.

"Why am I listening to it…?" Sakuraba thought feeling dismay, even more when he saw Shin that was on his right side, listening quietly even though he haven't done anything wrong "How can this guy be so calm on such situation?"

"You, get out of here already! And don't dare to talk to the players before the matches, Shoji Shizuka!" he scolded her giving a hit on her head with the roll of paper. She squinted her eyes, even though it was only paper, it seemed very painful coming from their strong coach.

Shizuka stood up in a hurry and sweated a bit, trying to placate her father's anger, she stepped in front of the two boys.

"I came here without permission, they didn't know about it, father…" she confessed the crime.

"How can you be so irresponsible?!" he was wafting in fury.

"He doesn't spare his own daughter. Scary…."

Sakuraba sweated more. He was frightened when a powerful aura started coming out from Shin, like the times he was determined or utterly concentrated on a match, why was he acting like that? He also felt compassion for Shizuka who had once again, stood in for them, and took a deep breathe, it was his time to help her too:

"Huh… Coach… I asked her to bring Torakichi since he couldn't come on his own… I didn't think it would cause troubles…" he smiled worriedly.

"Sakuraba, you can't bring people here like that!" he hit Sakuraba's head once too. Wakana rushed to aid him and he felt relief that the coach had averted his attention and pity at the same time since now Shin was the target, Shizuka also sweated more.

"As for you…" the coach stared intensely to the ace of the team, but Shin didn't raise his eyes, he patiently waited his punition, that was the amount of respect he had towards Shogun.

"Ah… Coach must have noticed it was not Shin's fault…He will release him…" the receiver sighed in relief, but it didn't tardy for the linebacker to break the hopes of his friend.

Before the coach took the decision the black-haired spoke in a serious, honest tone:

"My deepest apologies, coach. It only happened because I wasn't taking proper care of your daughter, I'll be more attentive next time."

The way he said it, one could really take his worlds like he was talking about protecting and watching over someone because of the integrity he transmitted through his words, also, he was feeling guilty for not impeding her from coming. Nonetheless… Again, his words could cause a misleading…

"What are you saaaaayiiiiing?!" Sakuraba's eyes popped out and he got desperate, Wakana had the same reaction. "Are you begging to be beaten, Shiiin?!"

"H-huh…"Shizuka's smile twitched, she immediately understood it was one of Shin's tendencies to take the responsibility since he had promised to watch over her.

They witnessed as one, two and lots of veins slowly popped out coach's forehead, of course, it was another misunderstanding and with all his might coach stroke Shin's face with the roll of paper, although the face of the linebacker turned for a moment, he had recovered on the next minute and was ready to listen to Shogun's contestations:

"Don't be convinced, brat! Who asked you to do that?! Stay away from heeer!" he said with his face red from anger.

"You're misunderstanding it father!"

Shizuka exclaimed in a exaggerate voice, blushing, ashamed of her father's misinterpretation and behavior while she tried to minimize the fuss occurring right before the match.

And he only calmed down some minutes after. Sakuraba didn't know if his friend did it on purpose or if he was really ingenuous enough to say those ambiguous sentences without measuring the weight of his words. In any case, he'd give Shogun a heart attack if his beloved daughter suffered some sort of accident because of him again. Coach surely favorited him when it was about football, however, conquering his heart to the point he would accept to give his little daughter to someone else was a completely different issue.

"Good luck, Shin." He thought "And please stopping saying those dubious sentences or people you interpret you wrongly…" he wished, but did not voice it to his dense companion.

The poor Shizuka had been having many troubles to explain herself to her father already and Shin wasn't any bit aware he was the one causing most of those troubles and turning the situation more intricate than it was supposed to be.

.

.

.

The match was breath taking, more than she was expecting, Torakichi couldn't stand still, he shook his hands repeatedly to cheer and shouted out of his lungs for Oujou. Shizuka was also impressed on how they looked different, Takami and Sakuraba had done a combination that the narrator described as "a pass that was high like the highest mounts on earth, the Everest pass". She could see his efforts shaped into that technique. There was something different about Shin too, he never failed to impress, she wondered if he could grow even stronger from now on, her father must be proud of him.

The match was described as the restauration of the kingdom, and Oujou won by 82 points against zero from Sankaku punks. Torakichi and Shizuka were pure joy after the match.

"Will you commemorate with the team?" Shizuka asked her father.

"We're going to a restaurant, but Wakana can't go." her father answered with crossed arms. "I don't know when I'll go back, but I will try to not arrive too late."

"Right. I'll go home with Koharu-chan, then." She beckoned and left with the manager of Oujou.

The team went to a restaurant whose main dish was meat to celebrate their victory, coincidentally – or not – Deimon's Devil bats were already there and it became a noisy party inside the place. Both coaches from the teams had their time talking.

"Well, Shoji, the last time we've seen was… The day we graduated, I guess?" Doburoku sipped the sake inside the bottle.

"Things changed a lot, but we really haven't change a bit, don't you think so?" Shogun replied with a faint smile. The feeling of nostalgia invaded the place.

"By the way, you became Oujou's coach, I could totally see your influence on the team… You were quit popular with girls that time…" a malicious smile appeared on the already drunk and reddened face of Deimon's coach.

"You, on the other side, wasn't any tad popular…" Shogun coughed commenting.

"That's cruel!" he gulped the sake at once and hit the table with the bottle, cleaning his mouth with an arm "I still can't understand… Saiko, Ayumi, Ohana, Kayano, Tsukari…" he counted on his fingers "What exactly was so attracting about a blank guy like you?! You could've done a harem!"

"You're the only one lamenting, I was never interested on a harem in the first place…" he quietly sipped his sake.

"Yeah, yeah, anyways, I've heard you raised a family… I had some unpredictable circumstances here and there and I ended up going to United States…"

"You were indebted, right?" his crude, accurate sentence caused a twitch on Doburoku, who coughed nervously:

"It's only a minor detail." He coughed again and casted a side glance "But it certainly fits your personality to stay here and strengthen a traditional team… I can't say it was unexpected…" he sipped another bottle of sake and his cheeks were already red. "If your wife a Japanese or is she from America like you?"

"She was Japanese, I met her after we graduated so, you don't know her…"

"Oh, so isn't she angry you're giving some hard trainings to those youngsters full of energy?"

"…" he paused for a moment "She was, but… She died three years ago…"

"….." Doburoku's eyes widened for a moment, and a glint of sadness flashed through his eyes "I'm sorry."

"No, it only happened. Differently from a healthy old guy like me, her health was feeble from the start, it only accentuated with the age… But she did give me two great presents before going…"

"Presents…? Are you talking about children?" he raised a brow in curiosity "Don't tell me your son plays for Oujou too…"

Shogun burst into laugh after that assumption and Doburoku narrowed his eyes, it was the second time he guessed something very wrong.

"Son? No… I don't have a son, but I have two daughters… The oldest is already married and she plans to live on another city because of her job… But… The youngest one, you see, she is the same age as those boys out here..."

"You must have many preoccupations…" he took a peek at the perky youngsters causing a ruckus about a competition of who eat more outside.

"She'll become a fine woman, what worries more is… My eldest daughter…"

"What… Don't tell me the great 'Shogun' has family problems with his daughter?"

"She hates me, and she will even live in another city to stay as farther from me as she can… You know, I wonder what I've done wrong, I did my best, but the best isn't enough sometimes… What's more complicated, it seems she is constantly trying to convince her sister to do the same… But I doubt Shizuka would change her opinion, that stubbornness is probably the only thing she inherited from me… They're both a copy of their mother."

"Buwahahaha!You should be glad they didn't take after you!"

Doburoku joked, but on the next instant, his face was serious and carried a calm, gloomy aspect as he asked:

"But, let's talk about those years... What have you been doing…?"

That conversation was very long, in the end, they couldn't make up for the thirty years they have not seen each other, but briefed about what happened on their lives. Of course, they both challenged the other to see who would raise the winner team, and it became an amicable competition, just like with their players.

.

.

.

The next match of Oujou would be against Sengoku samurais. The coach from the opponent's team was laughing about Oujou, saying that the rigorous trainings of Shogun were also a reason for mockery when they played together.

Shizuka frowned listening to that comment, but it was another person who took the revenge on her place, Ikari, the prison chain, as a consequence the player got suspended from the match, much to the team's dismay. In the end, some players who confronted Shin were hospitalized and Oujou had a brilliant victory, it was unanimous that the Kingdom's flag was still standing firmly.

Shizuka wanted to greet the players for their performance, but she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure: Kobayakawa Sena. She smiled, so he had also advanced to that phase of the competition. One day, she was eager to see him playing too.

She met with Sakuraba after the match, outside the stadium, on a less crowded entrance. She guided Torakichi since the boy was animated to talk to his hero.

"Sakuraba-kun, it was a great game."

"Did you see?! His receptions were unstoppable today!" the boy raised his hands shaking them in the air trying to imitate the plays of the game.

"We've brought a green tea can for you…" she stretched her hand with the can to hand it to Sakuraba. "Where are the others?" she asked smiling.

"Thanks. Ah, they're still changing, but Shin was talking to some girl before-"

When his fingers were about to reach the can, green tea splashed all over their hands. Sakuraba's eyes widened and he sweated when he saw that Shizuka had smashed the can between her fingers in a way the liquid was forced to come out.

"Ah." Her smile remained the same, but he could only feel terror remembering that, for some reason that smile looked a lot with the one she had when she threatened those delinquents. "My hand slipped."

"It didn't sliiiiiip! She did it on purpose! Why?!" Sakuraba thought internally, but he was so afraid to voice any word that he only nodded firmly with his head.

Torakichi was confused with the whole situation, and the receiver had to offer a handkerchief top Shizuka since she wasn't carrying one.

Meanwhile, amidst the crowd coming out of the stadium, a certain demon disguised among the people took notes on a black notebook he carried, with a devilish smirk, scheming another way of extracting information from the enemy, what a lucky day, he thought, Shizuka will be the key to investigate Oujou when the time comes.


	9. Rivalry

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 09:** Rivalry

That day would be Deimon's match against the Poseidons, Sakuraba told they'd be watching the match to analyze both teams strategies and prepare to confront the winner. Shizuka wanted to go too, and this time it seems her father didn't oppose, he had softened for some reason, and she was happy he was being milder.

"Ki-chan are you sure the bathroom is this way?" Shizuka pushed the wheelchair accompanying the boy.

"Yes! We have to call Sakuraba! He will lose the beginning of the match!"

"I know, I know!" she smiled nervously, rushing her steps. "Ah, there it is!" she finally saw the indicative sign.

She had to put a break on her running when she almost hit someone who was coming out of the bathroom. She immediately stopped the wheelchair with her hand, and apologized with a hand on her mouth:

"I'm sorry!"

"Huh? No, that's nothing…"

The man coming out of the toilet was trainer Doburoku, he carried a bottle of booze which called the attention of the youngsters. He smiled briefly to the girl:

"You don't need to worry, little miss." He waved and turned, going away.

"Wait…" Torakichi had a drop of sweat rolling down his face "Wasn't that the coach of Deimon Devil Bats?!" he was astounded "Ah, I can't believe we've met him!"

"E-eh, seriously?!"

The red-haired was surprised, her eyes wavered as she looked at the path he had taken, if she knew who he was, she'd talk to him. Her father always commented about him and considered him as a great friend and at the same time, as a fellow rival. Also, there were lots of thing she would like to hear about their past, unfortunately, he had already gone. She sighed heavily.

"Hey, let's go!" Torakichi swirled the wheel.

Meanwhile, Doburoku sipped his booze while he went to the bench, close to the manager of Deimon and the cheerleaders before the match started. He raised his eyes up to the sky while taking a gulp of his drink; his mind remembered that girl from before. He had the impression he has met her somewhere else… Where was it? Well, not that he could remember the face of every single teenager he had seen, there were so many female students on Deimon…

.

.

.

When they found Sakuraba, the three of them hurriedly took their seat on the grandstand, the other members were already watching closely as the match started. Shizuka was impressed with the speed of the small eyeshield 21, no matter how many times she watched, it was incredible.

It was a tense game, but Oujou was cheering for Deimon, she wondered whether it was because of the friendship of the coaches or if it was because the players had developed some amicable competitive spirit. Before the end of the match, Shin took his belongings and set out of the grandstand.

"H-huh, Shin, where are you going?" she asked worriedly.

"The result of this match has been decided." He declared confident and left the place.

Sakuraba stood up confused to what he meant, he thought Shin was interested on seeing Deimon's performance, but he was leaving before the result? Did he mean Deimon would lose or win?

"What's wrong with him…?" Shizuka asked concerned.

"Ah, I don't know…" Sakuraba scratched his head puzzled, raising a brow "He has some sort of rivalry with eyeshield 21 since he lost in his first match against that player, but…"

"So… That's how he knows Sena-san… They're rivals, I didn't know he felt that way…" she thought still listening carefully to the receiver.

"I was sure he would want to see if Eyeshield 21 has improved and develop some strategies to counterattack him, but… It doesn't seem to be the case…" he smiled unsure of his friend's feelings.

The red-haired was more preoccupied now. She knew Shin was dedicated to his promise of winning, and she would never fathom Sena was his rival, they seemed complete opposites of the same coin, and although she had seen with her own eyes the abilities of Deimon's running back, she still believed that Shin wouldn't delay to become even better than his rival. Perhaps, because he had felt he was lacking, he decided to train harder, but she still couldn't understand Shin's thoughts. Before Sakuraba noticed, the girl had gone too.

"H-huh? Where is Shizuka-chan?" he looked around searching for the girl, but she had disappeared.

"Hm?" The coach listened and stared at the player "What?"

"H-huh, nothing… I just dropped something…" he lied uptight and a wise thought passed by his mind "I can't tell coach they both disappeared, he'd misunderstand things again… But… Where did she go?"

.

.

.

Shin was already running on the field where Oujou's next match would be held, after Deimon's match. He had to heat his body before the match, but as usual, he arrived before everyone did and was already preparing.

His brows were more knotted than usual and his serious expression seemed somewhat unsatisfied as he ran through the field unstoppable. Eyeshield 21 got stronger at each match, he was unpredictable and it was frightening in many ways. Shin remembered when he lost to the player, the sensation he felt when he couldn't grasp that speed, he couldn't even get near, not on the condition he was, and for the first time he understood what Shoji Gunpei meant when he wisely told that strength does not suffice against a speed you can't catch up to.

His forehead wrinkled as those thoughts whirled inside him, forming a storm, he felt his blood boiling, he had been training hard during the whole summer and he was sure that this time, he had improved, but getting full of himself wouldn't help. From his analysis, every time Eyeshield 21 faced a strong opponent, he grew, and he did it during the games what was more impressive. He too, had to grow stronger and faster, on a level that even his rival wouldn't be able to reach.

He was so absorbed into the training and on his own personal world that he barely noticed there was someone near the benches, going away, he caught a fast glimpse of the person, but couldn't identify. His steps halted immediately and he got startled, who was it?

His eyes rushed through the field and the benches, but there was no one. It was strange, he was certain he had… Then, his eyes landed on the bench which had a water bottle and a towel. It wasn't there before… Who…? He picked the bottle feeling puzzled and searching around once more, unware that the person who had put it there was still on the neighborhood.

Shizuka was hiding behind the walls of the entrance to the field, she observed as he searched around. There were many question she wanted to ask, but she had the feeling she shouldn't bother him while he was training, it seemed wrong. Sakuraba said he has lost to Eyeshield 21 and that was the first time she had heard he has actually lost to someone, maybe it was what fueled his desire to surpass his limits, he saw that person as a worthy rival and it was helping him to grow even more as a player, if it was her father, he'd probably tell she shouldn't interfere with it because men have things they want to solve on their own, although she could not understand why, she still respected it.

When she was going away the team came to prepare for the match too, but she had to go to the grandstand with Torakichi, since her father forbid her of staying there since the last match of Oujou, he said she disrupted the concentration of his players. In fact, he was mainly worried about other issues regarding his little daughter.

When the other players came to the stadium Shin was, the receiver was a bit surprised to see his friend:

"Huh, were you here all this time since you left near the ending of Deimon's match?" Sakuraba asked the black-haired linebacker.

"Yes…"

"But, about what you've said… That the match was decided… You lost the best part…"

"Eyeshield 21 showed a new technic and won again, right?" he adjusted his gloves.

"H-huh… Yes, how did you know?" the receiver was shocked he described it exactly as it happened.

"Every time he is confronted with a challenge, he evolves…" Shin frowned with a serious expression.

"You're right…" he pondered "By the way, was Shizuka-chan helping you with the train?"

"…?" The perplexed expression on Shin's face brought a small and worried curve on Sakuraba's lips.

"She left the grandstand minutes after you did, I imagined she would be watching the training here since we stumbled up with her when we were coming to the field…"

"No, I haven't seen her around…"

Immediately after he has said those words, he had finally noticed something, his eyes widened a bit slightly surprised and his memory recalled him the moment he saw the silhouette near the benches… The water bottle and the towel were still there on the bench, but it wasn't there when he came, could it be…?

"…..!" like he had found out something unusual, his expression was filled with daze. It mitigated and his eyes softened.

He felt a strange, yet cozy sensation burning on his chest, those enclosure feelings remained submerse inside his own universe. Shizuka had been watching over him the whole time, but he failed to notice, even so, she…

"Shin….?" The young idol asked concerned.

The linebacker finished changing and a thrilling aura was exhaling from him, exerting a strong presence around. During the match, for some reason, he seemed more ferocious than ever, bringing the opponents down. He couldn't hide his desire to win his main rival, and at the same time, he couldn't disappoint the people who had deposited expectations on him.

.

.

.

After both Oujou and Deimon made their way to the semifinals, there were some days before the matches happened, during those days, Deimon prepared a counterstrategy against Seibu Wild gun man, their next opponent in the tournament, however, during their match…

"Deimon… Has… Lost?" Shizuka was flabbergasted, she could swear they would win, they…

If the Devil bats lost then… Her eyes averted to the side, where Shin was. He was silent, but she could see some disappointment on his eyes. Of course he also wanted to have a match against Eyeshield 21, but it wouldn't happen anymore.

"No matter whether the difference is 100 or 1 point, a loss is a loss."

Beside the strictness on Shin's words there was a subtle disgruntlement. That was the truth, but she still felt her eyes burning when some tears formed. She thought about how many players would feel like that for losing… A dream has ended for many of them, and it pained her heart because all of them remembered the story about her father's team from 30 years ago too.

The team left the stadium and soon, the red-haired left with the team too, but she casted a last pitied glance before going away.

"Shizuka-chan, are you crying?" Sakuraba whispered surprised.

"E-eh? No!" she rubbed her eyes nervously "I'm not!"

"They still have the chance to take the third place, moreover the three best teams from this competition will go to Kanto Regional tournament…" he explained smiling in an attempt to soothe her preoccupations.

"Is… is it true?" some hope lit on her eyes.

"Yes, but Demon only well get classified if they take the third place…"

"Ah…" she sighed heavily in relief, touching her chest "I thought it was over for them…"

"It means they will have a match against the team who loses today…" his eyes sharpened.

"You mean…" she looked at him with a drop of sweat, it has been a while since she had seen his face becoming so serious, but his expression smoothed when he looked at her again:

"I didn't know you were a fan of Deimon too…"

"Ah…" she gestured fidgety "That's not it, I like Oujou, but…" she smiled saddened "I only felt bad for them…"

He didn't understand the meaning behind those words and smiled worriedly, at least she was not looking gloomy. And finally, Oujou's semifinal match: VS Bando Spiders. Shizuka leaded Torakichi to the bench, to talk to Sakuraba before the match started.

The spectators shouted to cheer for Sakuraba and Shin, the receiver himself was truly surprised, he could swear his fans had given up on him already, but, this time, there were more fans and some of them were guys.

"H-huh?"

"It seems that there are more fans now." Shizuka chuckled lively.

"Sakuraba-chan!" Miracle Itou, the manager who used to produce his image on the media appeared with a shiny smile "I'm selling products, look! They have become popular lately!"

The idol sweated a bit looking at the suspicious face of his former manager, so it was him who had made some sort of merchandise to attract the fans, but this time, he used his image as a player.

"I might even find more starts here…" he searched around animated with the idea of getting more money using those brilliant high school players.

"See?! Everyone knows you're the best Sakuraba!" Torakichi spread his hands up excitedly.

Shizuka couldn't help but laugh, different from those bullies, his true fans understood how important American football was for him, then, her eyes landed on the two players from Deimon, specifically on Sena.

"I need to go, see you later!" she waved and hurriedly left the bench.

Both boys exchanged a glance when she ran away, Torakichi was allowed to stay near the bench even on official matches, even though Shogun was harsh, he could comprehend what was better for his players.

Shizuka approached Sena with a smile and beckoned, causing a startle on the other members of the team:

"Sena-san, how are you?"

"H-huh? S-Shizuka-san… Hello…" he scratched his head shyly.

"Who is she?" Suzuna narrowed her eyes.

"W-who is she?" Monta asked the same question, but with a pretty different demeanor, he jumped once and wafted smoke from his ears, his face blushed instantly

"He met a beauty, huh?" Juumonji raised a brow whistling.

"Did you come to watch Oujou?" he asked, trying to ignore the comments behind him.

"Yes, I also came to talk to you, it seems the match for the third place will happen next week, so you might be excited to have a match against Bando Spiders."

"Huh?" Monta froze "Against Bando? Of course Oujou is a strong team, but… She's already assuming that they will win…" he frowned.

"Is she a fan of Oujou…?" Kurita raised his brows in curiosity.

"Ah, she is…"

Sena looked at them nervously, scratching his head and thinking about how he would explain, then, he opened his eyes and noticed something… He really didn't know much about her, she was just a girl he met before and he knew she studied in Oujou, with Shin… Then could it be she was… he gulped.

Before he answered that question, someone else approached and he felt a chilling sensation when Hiruma's gum bubble burst and he took out a black notebook from the pocket of his trousers. His devilish grin made him look like a demon when he started disclosing information from previous investigations:

"Shoji Shizuka. A female student from Oujou high school, she is a regular student with high grades. 1,60 centimeter tall, 49 kilos, and her measures, in centimeters are: B89/W56/H86… She is a fan of Oujou White knights because her _father_ is the current coach, and also, the player she has a crush on is-" his evil smirk widened Shizuka felt a shiver on her spine listening to his detailed investigation, before he continued that phrase, a notebook hit his head. "Hey, shitty manager!" he shouted irritated averting his gaze to Mamori.

"Enough, Hiruma! You can't tell this much about a girl, you monster!" the manager of Deimon scolded him and turned to the red-haired instantly "I'm sorry." She bowed apologetically.

"It's nothing…" the red-haired gestured leisurely.

"Wait, wait, that's too much information, Mukyaah!" Monta complained. "But she is from Oujou, I could not expect less from the girls from a rich's school…"

"Is she the daughter of Oujou's coach?!" Sena was astounded.

"Is she trying to spy us, huh…?!" Toganou asked in a rude manner.

"N-no…" she tried to explain herself, but a hand patted her shoulder.

"Don't bother them, they're idiots." Suzuna comforted her. "By the way, about the crush, who-" she was interrupted when a strand of her hair rose like an antenna.

"You're here to watch Oujou, then…" Monta crossed his arms.

Sena smiled, but soon his jumpy habits stroke again when he remembered that he had lost her handkerchief, he shrieked internally as his fruitful imagination depicted Oujou's players swarming around him with crossed arms to give him a lesson for losing a girl's belonging, he also remembered when she punched that delinquent and imagined she as the leader of the "gang" attacking him.

"Please don't hurt me!" he trembled.

"H-huh? Why would I hurt you?" she was confused and a drop of sweat formed on her face.

"What's wrong with you?" Monta raised a brow "Her arm is broken, she is light as a petal, you can't insult girls like that, Sena!" Monta lectured him.

"Do you want to watch the match with us?" Mamori smiled gently, asking politely.

"No, thank you, I just wanted to greet you, I'm going there…" she pointed to the bench where Torakichi was. "I'll take my leave, the match will start soon…" she bowed educated and waved her hand before vanishing into the crowds.

"Huuuh?! Can she watch it from there?!" the huh-brothers were stunned.

"She is the daughter of the coach… It must bring some privileges…" Kurita commented.

"I don't think so…" Yukimitsu dismissed the idea.

"Anyways, why were you freaking out before, Sena?" Deimon's receiver asked perplexed "Just take a look at her, she couldn't possibly harm a bug."

"You're quite wrong there, monkey." Hiruma made a vein pop out of Monta's forehead and the receiver was held back by Sena and Suzuna in an explosion of anger to hit Hiruma "She can lift 50 kilos. And she has broken her arm when…"

He stared at them with a clear, blank gaze and hesitated, but when the bubble gum burst again they sweated aplenty, his expression turned to his usual scheming and doubtful demonic smile:

"Hiheheh, she's the perfect chance to spy on Oujou in a near future…"

"He's already scheming something malign!" Monta and Sena shrieked in unison.

What was that demon planning this time? The poor Shizuka was already his target and she wasn't aware it could bring trouble for the team. She went back to the bench to watch closely her favorite team.


	10. Kanto Tournament

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 10:** Kanto Tournament

 **October 18,**

"In five days there will be the last match of Devil bats on the tournament, they'll fight for the third place…" Sakuraba told in an eager tone and his gaze stopped on Shin's expression "Aren't you anxious too?"

"… Deimon is a team that has passed by a growth spurt recently, but that does not mean they will win." He was realistic.

Sakuraba smiled briefly with his friend's sincerity and turned round, then, again his eyes were mesmerized by a luminous sight:

"Shizuka-chan!" he beckoned.

There was nothing exceptional about her entering the classroom, but it also caught Shin's interest since…

"Your arm is healed!" the young brown-haired boy was enthusiastic.

"Ah, yes the doctor said I could finally stop using that arm sling… It feels better now…" she smiled kindly.

"It took a while… I was getting worried…" the receiver sighed in relief.

"It was because I forced my arm a bit, then it too more than normal to fully recover…" she scratched her face a bit abashed to tell it was actually because she fought delinquents and was hit by those bullies.

Shin simply stared at her for some seconds, then averted his gaze, but his expression seemed lighter, maybe he felt better now that Shizuka's injuries were healed since he felt guilty.

"By the way Shizuka-chan, are you going to watch Deimon's match too? Our match will be at night, so, there's plenty of time to watch both."

"I will!" her smile was more bright "It's Deimon's last chance, so I'm kinda cheering for them too… Moreover, if they classify to Kanto Regional, you will finally have a chance to play against them again, right?"

"Yes… I also wanted another match… This time I…" he clenched his fist "Will show how much I've changed."

"I'm anxious to see how Eyeshield 21 will play next time…" she giggled putting a hand to cover her smile,

Shin fidgeted on his seat, there was a heavy thump on his heart. His brows gradually came together as a grave expression was sculpted on his face, why did he feel that way? He touched his chest sweating a bit, could it be he had acquired a heart disease? For some reason his will to win Eyeshield 21 inflamed.

"H-huh… It seems Shin is also longing a duel against Eyeshield…" the receiver smiled worriedly with the intense aura coming out of his friend.

.

.

.

 **October 23**

Deimon's match against Bando Spiders was also full of surprises for many people, for instance, the true identity of Eyeshield 21 from Devil bats was revealed.

"Eeeh? B-but that's Sena!" the receiver was flabbergasted.

"Huh? Sakuraba-kun, didn't you know it was Sena-san?" Shizuka blinked twice, she was sure everyone knew.

"No… Shizuka-chan… Did you know?" Takami adjusted his glasses sweating.

"Yes, I thought everyone knew…" she was a bit shocked they seemed complete oblivious to the fact "It was Shin who told me he was the Eyeshield 21…"

"W-well, Shin is a special case…" Sakuraba sweated putting a hand in front of his mouth and approaching to whisper to the red-haired "Shin sees people by their muscles, not by their faces, that's why he…"

"Hm… That makes sense…" her shoulders slumped recalling the idiosyncrasies of the linebacker.

As expected, Deimon's match was breath taking and the weather only turned it like a sports movie. The sky darkened with the gray clouds, the wind blew heavily in the field. In the end, Sena could retrieve his pride as the real Eyeshield 21, and Devil bats were assigned as one of the three teams classified to Kanto Regional Tournament.

As for Oujou, they won Seibu on the finals, and Shin became the MVP of Tokyo fall Tournament. Shoji Gunpei was proud of his pupil, and Shizuka was happy, but of course, that title didn't mean anything to Shin, he still was determined to train harder and go to even higher lengths.

Sakuraba, Ootawara and other members of Oujou also entered on the selection of 11 best players from the competition for each position in American football. Shizuka cheered for them. The receiver was moved, it was the first time he was recognized by his skills as a receiver and not by the fake image as a model, he was a real star this time.

.

.

.

"Congratulations!"

Shizuka applauded both Sakuraba and Shin before they entered the school, they were at the garden outside, most of the leaves were falling coloring the ground with orange, yellow and mild green tones.

"Shizuka-chan… Did you come here only to congratulate us?"

"You were on top 11, and…" she talked animatedly, almost like she was the one being rewarded. "Ah, I brought something!"

She rummaged hurriedly on her bag, her smile was even brighter, Sakuraba had a faint smile, she could be very honest unconsciously on some occasions, maybe she just felt happy because they had good results and her father seemed in a good mood since they won, but he was still being rigorous.

She handed Sakuraba a transparent plastic bag with a pink lace. It was stuffed with cookies.

"H-huh? Did you do those?!" he was surprised. "They're shaped like a football!"

"Yes! There's one for you too, Shin…" she picked another one.

He accepted it, but stared at the cookies for some seconds, and stared at Sakuraba's face then, he handed it back.

"Huh?" she was confused.

"It's not that I don't want it." he tried to explain in a leveled tone "I can't consume much sugar, and I already organized my diet for today. Thank you for your consideration."

Shizuka paused for a moment trying to assimilate his words. Sakuraba was stunned in part for his insensibility and in part for his complete lack of sociability, how could he refuse a girl's present like that?! He would never get a girlfriend if he kept acting so crassly!

"S-Shin!" he blurted out in a scolding and nervous tone while taking a peek at Shizuka's reaction.

"Ah!" the red-haired girl curved her brows up making that look like a little matter "I'm sorry, I forgot about that."

"No, Shizuka-chan, you shouldn't apologize for that, he's the one being mean here…" the receiver thought switching his gaze from the girl to his friend as a tense mood swelled up.

"I'll be going first, then."

He bowed politely and calmly walked away, Shin Seijuro seemed completely vague towards his surroundings. His reticent behavior hasn't changed much, it was what he thought. His eyes were set far away, on his own world, but… His slow and patient steps stalled when he overheard the next part of that conversation going on without him:

"How can that guy be so unapproachable?" Sakuraba commented feeling helpless and a faint smile sprout on his lips "I'm sorry for that, it's not that he doesn't appreciate your consideration, but you know, he only isn't very used to open himself to people… I'm sure he is happy…" he tried to attenuate the seemingly rejection. "It's a pity you had all the hard work to cook those…"

"I know he was not trying to be rude… You don't need to worry," She chuckled. "I can just eat them myself."

"E-eh? Aren't you giving them to another person?"

"No…" her smile was softer and her honey eyes seemed to melt "Those cookies were meant for you and Shin, it doesn't make sense if I give them to another person, right?"

Shin Seijurou remembered again, that sensation. It was the same for the coach, or even for Sakuraba, yet, something quite peculiar when it was about Shizuka. More people who cared about him. He could be so stupid sometimes, of course, it was not his intention, but he could be indifferent enough to cause many problems. Before, he wouldn't bother about what people thought about him or if his words had affected someone in any way, but recently, that inkling feeling weighting on his heart had been annoying his mind. And when he pondered about that, there was a bundle of other things that actually worried him more.

There wasn't really a problem in showing gratitude or even talking about what he thought, it was only… His disinterest came from the fact he judged it wasn't necessary to say the words thoroughly, people should be able to understand even if he didn't tell or interfere. Still… He turned back and his sight caught a glimpse of his classmates' faces.

A mild breeze passed by, blowing Shizuka's scarlet hair, the shades of her smile seemed somewhat resigned when she told that to Sakuraba. She combed a strand of her hair back before turning to leave.

Sakuraba's eyes focused on the present on his hands… Even though Shin was sincere, he could be very cruel on rare occasions because it looked like he hasn't carefully pondered his words before explicating it, like he wasn't considering their feelings at all. His thoughts were irrupted by the girl's voice:

"Ouch!"

She bumped into someone, and dropped the bag of cookies to touch on the tip of her nose that reddened.

"Shin?!" Sakuraba was startled. "Why did he come back…? Did he eavesdrop on our conversation…?"

He thought trying to fathom the thoughts of the linebacker, but it was impossible to read the emotions on the blank face of his companion.

"I'm sorry. I didn't notice you were here…" There was a drop of sweat on her face as she bowed slightly to apologize.

The linebacker quietly picked the plastic envelop on the ground. They wondered if his silence meant he had forgotten something, but their hypothesis was a complete flaw:

"I'm sorry too Shizuka." His declaration caused a flinch on the other two again.

"H-Huh? For what?"

"I haven't noticed earlier it was something important for you. I'll accept it."

"H-huh? Are you sure?" her eyes wavered for a brief moment "... But, you've said your diet…" her brows curled in worry.

"It's not a problem, I can reorganize it." he put the bag on the pocket of his pants. "Then, I'm going."

He turned away and left with the wind. Both the receiver and the red-haired stayed still for some seconds, trying to understand just what had happened.

"Pft… He can be so clumsy…" Sakuraba's internal thoughts made a smile appear on his face "I thought he was oblivious to his surroundings, but I completely mistook his tranquil temper for unawareness of the facts… He is always paying attention even when we think he isn't… That guy is so strict… I didn't know he could be gentle like this too… Although, he's still a very sloppy gentleman…"

He stared at Shizuka, she seemed still mesmerized as she looked at the path where he had gone and he wondered if it was only his impression or if her cheeks were more rose than usual, he rubbed his eyes and on the next instant, she was back to her normal self again, with a confident, kind smile on her face.

"Let's go too, Sakuraba-kun, we'll arrive late!"

"At least, she is in a good mood!" he answered with a grin, following the girl to their classroom.

.

.

.

Sakuraba was anxious for the incoming matches, firstly, he was curious to see the results of Deimon VS Shinryuuji, since the latest were the favorites to win the title, although he personally preferred the Devil Bats.

"What's wrong?" Shizuka swiftly approached with a smile, staring at his worried expression.

"Ah, nothing… I was just thinking about the tournament…" he sighed heavily "Deimon will have a match against Shinryuuji, you know… That team from-"

"I remember…" she had a saddened glance "They're a strong team, but I'm still rooting for Deimon…"

"Shizuka-chan…"

"Ah, it's not that I prefer them over Oujou, but…" she gestured nervously, but her expression changed when her memory recalled about Agon, whom she met right after the match "I… don't like that person, the main player…" she felt a shudder spreading through her body.

"Huh?" Sakuraba wondered why she was acting so strangely.

"Eyeshield 21 is a player who always evolves during the matches, I want to see which sort of moves he will show against a genius like Agon… of course, he's not the only trump of Deimon's devil Bats, their Quarterback is also laudable."

Shin's comment startled the other two, he could be very talkative and precise when it was about football, they had a drop of sweat on their faces and exchanged a glance. He was really a peculiar person.

"But we will only meet Deimon at the semifinals if they win Shinryuuji…"

The receiver's gaze was focused on a distant reality he was foreseeing, one in which he would have his confrontation against Monta and Sena. Shin himself also emanated a fiery, imposing aura that turned him into an unapproachable person, but their concentration was irrupted with the sound of a pleasant chuckle.

"You two are the same when it's about American football…" Shizuka covered her mouth with one hand.

The two players felt awkward as a burning sensation invaded their cheeks, were they being mocked because of the strange habit of being too immerse into football they forgot the world around?

The match between Shinryuuji and Deimon was impressive, and as Shin predicted, Eyeshield leveled up his abilities as a player. What would happen now that they were one step closer to their promise of meeting at the finals?

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **EXTRA:**

Before the Tournament started, Kumabukuro's daughter, a teen journalist came to interview Shin, among the question she asked while he trained, there was one question that stunned his friend:

"Which kind of girl do you like?"

"One that can carry the pride of the team with her."

"Ah… He missed the meaning here!" Sakuraba pointed out on his mind, sweating aplenty "Those are requirements to be a manager of the team, not the type of girl he'd like as a girlfriend!" he stated "Shin is so…"

There was a dramatic pause on Sakuraba's mind. He stared at his friend with curious and perplexed eyes as the journalist asked more questions. He couldn't listen what she was talking, he was concentrated on his friend's training.

"Wait… The pride of the team…"

He gulped and took a peek at Shogun who was shouting at some players to incentivize them. The young idol could only picture an image on his mind, of the smiling Shizuka.

"Shin, could it be that you're smarter than I think…? He have said that she carried pride before, haven't he?" his thoughts only got more confused and he fastened the pace of his lifting of weights. "T-that guy, could he really be talking about…? Ow! I'm curious now! Had he finally awaken to those kinds of matters? I can't understand this guy!"

That doubt killed his inner self for the rest on the day, and maybe, he would never know. Shin Seijurou was a mysterious and rather quiet person whose thoughts were a complete maze for Sakuraba. Maybe, there was something changing on him…? Or not.


	11. Before the Festival

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 11:** Before the festival

Before White Knight's first match on Kanto Regional Tournament against Sado Strong Golems, there was an event happening at Oujou's high school. Most of the members were entertained with the organization of Oujou's _school festival_.

Shizuka entered a big, wide room, the ceiling was high, the room was filled with old stuff and antiquities from the school, there was dust, but it still left the image of a castle: the walls were completely made of rectangular stones and after entering by the wooden door, it was possible to see the beautiful and impressive stained glass on the wall on the opposite side of the entrance.

Some light beams invaded the room coloring like a mosaic the old objects stored there, most of them were covered by grimy dust. The red-haired was accompanied by a black-haired girl whose hair was tied in twin tails.

"Sheesh, looks like those things were locked here for ages…" she sighed "Shoji, you clean the left side and I clean the right side, gotcha?"

"Yes, Muguruma-san." She smiled quickly and started the job.

They cleaned the dust and coughed a bit. The duty of the second years for their class was to clean that room and polish the old armors which would be used as disguise for the students to ornament the festival and make it look like a real castle. There were even some old-fancy medieval clothes related to the story about the school and for the theater club.

"Hey, look, look, Shoji!"

Her partner called out loud in some of excitement and she immediately paid attention thinking it could be something important. The girl had taken off a sheet from a painting. It was a big, almost the same height as them, it was old but the elegance and the colors still caught their sights.

"What?"

"Can't you see?" her colleague pointed to the woman in the portrait.

There was a woman depicted: she had a long, wavy blonde hair, a pearl tiara passing by her nude forehead, her eyes were the exact shape of Shizuka's, but the color was green. Her smile was soft, yet gentle, just like Shizuka's too. Her shoulders were almost at exposition and she wore a light-blue dress, but the picture ended on her shoulder. The frame was golden colored and although dirty, it was still bright.

"She's very similar to you!"

"No, no, she looks like some princess… Giving the history regarding our school's conception, I can bet they picked it on some old castle of Europe. " she dismissed giggling like it was a joke to compare her to the woman in the picture.

"Eh? But I've been hearing some rumors that a certain someone had become a princess for Oujou White Knights too!" the black-haired provoked in a slightly delighted mood.

"H-huh?" Shizuka's cheeks were almost the same color as her hair "T-that's not like that, I was just…"

And they laughed a lot while cleaning the room, at the end of that afternoon, there were still some armors to take out of the room and polish, however the general work was almost completely done. The black-haired called shaking the keys to indicate she would close the room.

Shizuka hurried her steps, but stopped after listening to a mild clanging sound, like the sound of small bells ringing. She turned back, looking at the vacant room colored with the orange shades of the sun setting outside. Everything was still on place, the armors, the clothes, and her eyes landed on that portrait, as if mesmerized by it. Her honey eyes traveled through the room, like they were going to a distant universe, until another sound startled her:

"I'll close the room now, if you don't want to stay locked in, come right now, Shoji!" the girl threatened in a jesting tone.

"Ah, right!" she rushed again and left the room, yet, her eyes were impelled to take another peek at that place before leaving…

.

.

.

Inside the classroom, Shizuka was sitting, looking by the window. The sky was clouded outside, most of the students were focused on the lesson, taking notes as their teacher talked, but Shizuka's eyes drifted to the outskirts of the school. Her yellow eyes searched something far away, and her mind was on a complete different depth of the world, in a way only her body was present at the room.

"Shoji Shizuka!" the teacher called for the second time, and she instantly fidgeted on her seat,

"Y-yes." She stuttered nervously, causing some laughs along the classroom.

"Read the second paragraph of page 35!"

"Yes…"

Her brows curled in dejection and she stood up, reading it perfectly and paused as demanded, when she finished, she took her seat again, and her eyes were casted down, to the empty paper of her notebook. She didn't take any note that day and she didn't seem happy with it. The usual smile that colored the face of Shoji Shizuka was nowhere to be seen.

Sakuraba discreetly looked back, at the girl, Shin seemed oblivious to the situation as expected, and was writing as if nothing had happened, but the red-haired was seemingly tired and her face expressed dismay. For a moment, when she raised her eyes, she noticed the receiver was taking a look, and he gulped, he did not mean to stare at her, then she smiled faintly and started taking notes.

She didn't greet them as always and left the classroom as soon as the class ended, also, her active participation on the clubroom diminished for the next two days. They didn't have a hint of what was afflicting the daughter of the coach.

Two days after, during the break for lunch, Shizuka hadn't talked to them, nor smiled, again, her mind seemed distant and her expression was foggy, making her feelings unclear. It bothered Sakuraba.

"Shin… Have you noticed something strange about Shizuka-chan lately…?" he sipped the cold-tea from the can he had just bought on the vending machine.

"…?" the quiet friend looked at him with a slight confused glance, he couldn't understand why he was being asked that "What do you mean?"

"It's just…" he hesitated thinking about how he could explain it clearly to his apathetic colleague, that guy seemed very dense to understand people's feelings, it worried him either "Shizuka-chan is a very lively girl, but it seems that her mind had become lost somewhere recently… You know… That girl was cheerful and now… I haven't seen her smiling once this week… That's strange."

"Is it?" his dry question sounded very frivolous.

Sakuraba almost spit the gulp of tea he had on his mouth, he had to control himself. Surely that his friend could not remember she always smiled, after all, he paid more attention to people's muscles not to their expressions.

"She must be occupied with the preparations for the festival…" Shin guessed "But you're right, she hadn't been smiling lately." His eyes finally risked a glance to his friend.

"H-huh? You've noticed it too, then?" he was puzzled did he know it the whole time?

"Many muscles are put at motion when one smiles, it's easy to perceive it." he explained like it was something very logic, making some drops of sweat appear on the face of the receiver.

"Anyways, I'm preoccupied…" he admitted with a restless gaze and his brows naturally curled up "There's something off about her behavior and she isn't telling us…"

"You shouldn't pry if it's something she has decided to not tell."

Shin again was objective, even being cold, his words were usually right, but Sakuraba had to disagree this time, he felt there was something very wrong:

"I know we shouldn't be pestering her, but… I have an ominous presentment… Like… Sheesh… You too should be worried, Shin… After all, to Shizuka-chan you are…" he paused, like he had been hit by a shock wave, and he forced a smile gesturing nervously to dispatch that matter "Forget it, forget it…"

The linebacker had question marks above his head, wondering what his teammate was talking about, but, truth to be told, deep inside there was also an unquiet feeling poking his heart. He wondered if it was just his impression or if it was a presage about what would happen, notwithstanding he never believed those sensations, anyways…

.

.

.

At night, after the training, both Sakuraba and Shin were leaving the clubroom. Lately, when Shin stayed longer than the scheduled training hours, the receiver would stay too like he was on some sort of competition, although, he still couldn't compete with Shin. Takami handed the keys to them and the coach had to leave earlier to create strategies for the next game, also he had some problems at home, it seems.

The receiver made sure to lock the clubroom before leaving, and they passed by the room where Shizuka and the other girl had been. There was an armor outside, Sakuraba stopped and stared at the solid metal, the school really had a fancy for the medieval age.

"Huh… Our class had been assigned to polish and organize the armors and costumes, right? Weren't Shizuka-chan and that other girl from our class cleaning this room?"

"….." Shin frowned, for some reason, there was an eerie, mysterious vibe coming from that place.

Before he could analyze the question, Sakuraba called him in alert, like there was something wrong:

"Shin, look there, isn't that Shizuka-chan?"

The red-haired was walking idly thorough the corridor, but her expression was empty, just like the school at that hour. She stopped meters away from them and casted a glance, before mumbling something inaudible, and after that, she fainted.

The two players were set into a state of confusion and reacted so fast that even without a second thought, they were already by her side.

"Shizuka-chan!" Sakuraba grabbed her shoulders, but there wasn't a single answer from the girl. "Shizuka-chan!" he called louder.

"…!" Shin's frown accentuated as he looked at the unconscious red-haired.

"We need to take her to the infirmary!" the receiver suggested uptight.

"It's closed by this time."

"T-Then, let's take her to the clubroom, If I remember correctly there's a kit of first aid, there must be something we can use to help!" he was almost talking out of breath, scared about what could be happening.

Shin supported her back and took her on arms. They hurriedly brought her to the clubroom, he laid her on the treadmill while he would help Sakuraba searching the medical kit, but before they could do something, her eyes opened in a second and she sat. Her expression seemed hazy and she rubbed her eyes, like she had been sleeping for hours.

"Shizuka-chan are you all right?!" the receiver again grabbed her shoulders and she flinched with his sudden and strong grip.

"Sakuraba-kun?" she looked around in a sleepy and lazy way "Shin?" she rubbed her eyes again and finally, her senses caught a wind of the situation.

At first she was utterly lost, then, she became confused as the surroundings became clearer, but the ones who were caught by surprised were the two boys, when she proffered the next question:

"What am I doing here?"

"Eh? Shizuka-chan we brought you to this room, but… We're the ones confused here… Why are you still here? It's late…"

They helped her to stand properly, and her expression suddenly let escape some hints of fear when the idol said that. In a minute, however, her face had a faint, yet forced smile.

"I guess I ended up sleeping… It must be the schedules of cleaning, it's very tiring to organize old stuff." She tried to lie, but it only caused more agitation on the two players.

"Are you sure it's all right?" Sakuraba asked with a very subtle curiosity on his eyes.

"I am… You must be tired too… Since you're in the regional, my father must be giving even harder trainings for you all…" she bowed and left.

They exchanged a glance before she beckoned hectically to make sure her act about the happy girl could be swallowed, but it didn't work.

.

.

.

The next day, Shizuka was sleeping with her head laying on the desk, it never had happened before so, they found it quite strange. She was complaining she have been feeling tired. The young idol had a frown of concern and again, searched for the reaction of his patient friend which seemed indifferent to the situation.

Sakuraba wondered if Shin was having any hint about the graveness of that situation, there was something serious happening to Shizuka-chan but he didn't have any sort of change on his expression. His coolness could be something bothersome, if not annoying some times. Didn't he promise he would protect Shizuka, then what was he doing standing still there when she had problems?

"Shin," he called seriously during the interval between classes "I know we're occupied with the trainings and the festival, but… I'm still concerned about the fact that Shizuka-chan needs some attention now… She was even sleeping on our classes… How can you not notice there's something wrong?" he frowned at the apparent featureless expression of his friend.

"We shouldn't intromit on her troubles. It could only bring more problems for her." He closed his eyes, his verdict was said, he was already walking away on the corridor with hands on pockets, but his steps halted when he heard the sound of steps standing on his way.

"Wait, Shin."

Shin's calm a placid tone had agitated Sakuraba even more. Did he really forget his allegiance? His brows furrowed in irritation and he stood in front of the linebacker with a defiant tone:

"Are you saying that you don't bother because she has been hiding it?"

The black-haired had a stern expression, his lips curved down and his fist clenched slightly. It was expected that Sakuraba would misunderstand his words, he was not good at expressing his emotions openly, but it still fazed him. That's why he tried to explain it better:

"It's not that I'm not worried." His fists clenched even more "But…" his eyes narrowed with some sign of concern "Shizuka is a very gentle and sensible person, even though she has strong muscles, her inner self is more delicate than we imagine. Even if she's passing by a difficult situation, she does not wish to tell us because she must be feeling that involving us would be inconvenient. Thus, if she's not willing to tell, we shouldn't trouble her by interfering, she will feel blamed if something happens because we tried to help."

For a brief moment Sakuraba's orbs wavered as he listened to his friend. He had forgotten how attentive Shin was, because he was usually reserved and talked the less possible. He had forgotten his friend was actually an accurate individual. He must have his reasons to not say anything before, it was what he wanted to believe, but he was also worried, it soothed a bit his irritation, but he still opposed to the fact Shin would ignore her troubles:

"Even if she will be worried if we interfere, that does not mean we must let her alone…I know you're considering her feelings too, Shin, but at times like those, we can't only respect her wishes, even if she gets angry or even smack us by that, that's a matter she can't solve alone, and if you're not going to help, I will."

Shin's eyes widened a bit after witnessing the determination of his friend, more than that, his fists tightened and he felt a cluttering feeling on his chest. His companion could be right… But what could he possibly do to help…?

.

.

.

 **Late at night, after the training…**

Again Sakuraba and Shin stayed until late, although the first one was still irritated. They both walked down the stairs to the ground floor after locking the clubroom. Shin had his hands on pockets and Sakuraba was holding the key for the clubroom.

Their steps ceased when they heard a sound, someone was running there. Both of them exchanged a glance warned, even without any exchange of words, their gazes established a complete dialogue there.

"Is there someone here this late at night? It must be an invader. A robber, maybe?" the brown-haired teen thought sweating apprehensively.

The steps came closer, the person was drawing near running at a fast pace. His next glance was directed to Shin who frowned, and both of them nodded. The moment the invader turned to go upstairs, Shin tackled down the intruder, and both of them fell to the ground, their bodies slid some meters with the strength he used, he didn't know how to level his use of power.

It was a success, was what they thought, however, after taking a second look, their minds finally understood, first, Sakuraba opened his mouth in astonishment, then, it was Shin who was puzzled, the intruder was softer and easier to take down than he expected, it only happened by chance that the person he had just struck down was Shizuka.

The linebacker was astounded, he used one arm to raise his upper body a bit, but his eyes were transfixed on her face, she was unconscious, and it did not make sense. Some strands of her scarlet hair were spreading over the ground, he touched her shoulder, with a feeling of guilty. His mind had many jumbled thoughts, but he could only think if his tackle had not hurt her, he'd punish himself if it did. It took some second for him to notice that he was on a disreputable position over a lady, and a shudder occurred on his body, if Shogun saw that, he'd discipline himself for the rest of his life for hurting the daughter of the coach.

Sakuraba was too absorbed on thoughts and theories that he did notice until Shin also noticed something, there was a flinch on Shin's face as the comprehension about the situation arrived at the surface of his thoughts. His blood was flowing wildly to his cheeks as his expression became troubled, before he could react, Shizuka's eyes opened.

One second was enough to a sequence of reactions: first her eyes met Shin's; secondly she quivered as her face became as red as her hair; lastly she sat up in a hurry, turning her face in embarrassment and using both hands to shove him away and deliver a slap on his face, screaming, she could only push him a bit, since he had a sturdy constitution and she didn't have much force, and both of them were sitting on the ground. Shizuka trembled and shrunk her shoulders, recoiling her body a bit.

A red mark was visible at Shin's face, but his expression was blank and serious, but there was something about that face telling he was slightly troubled, just like her.

"I'm sorry." He said in with some sort of guilty, closing his eyes and lowering his head to redeem for his disrespectful actions.

"Huh…"

Shizuka was still shocked and even though he apologized, her distrust hadn't fully disappeared at the time. After the scene, Sakuraba rushed to calm her down and explain it properly:

"S-Shizuka-chan it's not what you're thinking!" he gestured fidgety.

"H-huh? Sakuraba-kun?" there were some tears on the corner of her eyes, and she finally came to her senses, looking around. "Ouch…" she touched her ribs, she had the sensation her bones had been hit with a rock.

Shin scowled, the feeling of guilty tightened made his heart become heavy for a moment, as he stared at the girl. As he had predicted, she got hurt, of course it was expected even if he was only trying to bring her down. He looked at his own hand, in a saddened way, what was he doing after all? Hitting the person he should be protecting.

"What is happening?"

The red-haired changed her expression. She seemed completely at loss after perceiving they were near the stairs to the first floor. Her eyes anchored their travel on Shin's uptight face.

"What are we doing here?" her brows curled worriedly.

"You were running through the corridors." The linebacker announced with a faint hint of concern.

"R-running?" her brows budged up in surprise. "Why…?" she put a hand on her mouth and her gaze was set on the ground, as she pondered thoroughly

"Shizuka-chan, you don't seem well…" Sakuraba offered a hand to help her.

"I'm… fine."

There was a long paused between the words, which caused them to doubt her words even more as he helped her to stand.

"Are you sure?" the receiver insisted.

"Yes!" she gestured nervously forcing a smile, but it didn't convince them.

"That's not true."

Shin's bold, surly assertion amazed the other two that focused their gazes on him. His expression was stern and his fists were clenched tightly.

"Shin…?" Sakuraba gulped feeling a tense mood installing in the place, and switching glances between his friend and the girl.

"Shizuka, occulting your problems is only bringing more trouble for us." He was always straight and his words sounded harsh, but they could identify the concern imbuing his speech "If you do not want to cause any hinder, you should tell what is happening and we will help you to solve this problem faster…" the last part, he completed with a sorrowed gleam on his eyes: "If something bad happens to you, coach will be sad…"

She opened her mouth to talk, but she closed it lowering her head with a saddened expression. He had a point, and more than anyone, she understood her father would be worried about her either. Shin felt he had the responsibility of not disappointing his coach ever again.

Sakuraba sighed in a fresh relief, he could look like a dense person, but people always listened to him, furthermore, even being harsh his words had some effect and he did listen to his advice, after all.

Shizuka had finally taken her decision, it would be wise f she told them what had been happening during those last days, a disturbing and enigmatic situation…

"Right… But… Don't tell it to my father, please… What I'm going to tell now, might not make much sense, but, please, believe me…" her voice was a pleading to keep that as a secret.


	12. Possession

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

*Ok, I know, that's not even about football anymore, but I'll get back to the manga's storyline soon.

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 12:** Possession

 **Inside the football clubroom,**

The three students were sitting. The players stared at the worried expression of the girl as she reluctantly told them what was happening, she seemed to ponder thoroughly her words before speaking and it increased the tension around the air.

"It all started two days ago…" her memory could remember perfectly the images of that day "Our class was allotted with the task of cleaning the room with the armors and costumes for the festival and making the maintenance of the costumes… I was assigned to clean the room and separate the materials we would use for the festival with a classmate, but… Since the first time I entered that place, strange things had been happening…" her brows curled in a mix of sadness and concern.

"By that place, do you mean the storage on the left tower of the school?"Sakuraba's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yes, the highest tower of the school…" she nodded, enlacing her fingers to continue the story "When I left the room that day, I listened to a bell ringing…"

"A bell?" the more she told, the more the receiver felt it made no sense, Shin also frowned with her explanation, confused.

"Yes…" her eyes wavered and she casted her gaze down, worriedly "I thought it was just my impression at first, but, when I wandered on the corridors of the school those bells were still ringing, and I heard a voice…"

"Who?" Sakuraba enquired "Was there someone beside us at school that day?"

"No… It was a woman's voice, I don't know what she was saying, it was almost a whisper… After that, I felt sleepy and… I can't remember exactly what happened, my mind went blank and when I woke up, you two were there…"

"H-huh? Then… Were you sleepwalking…?" the idol was more perplexed "How…?"

"I don't know too, but I have been feeling sleepy, and there are also strange dreams too… Then, today, after I finished my duties on that room, I was walking back and I heard the same thing again, but…" her usually calm expression was being filled with fear as she went on "This time I've heard a man's voice calling for someone… Everything went black, I can't remember what happened until…" she casted a glance to the linebacker, he fidgeted and closed his eyes, ashamed, saying apologetically:

"I'm sorry."

"B-by the way…" Sakuraba broke the awkward mood installing "Yesterday we've met you unconscious, then… Today, you were running through the corridors. We could swear it was an intruder, but… Shizuka-chan, isn't it a vestige of tiredness? Haven't you been working much lately?"

The traits of her face changed into sadness, of course she wanted to believe it was only fatigue too, but... She tightened the grip of her fingers thinking if she should really have told them as it seemed hard to believe, but her dismay was cut off when Shin pronounced himself:

"If it started after you went to the storage, we should check it."

"H-huh? But…" the red-haired was a bit surprised with his suggestion.

"No, he is right, Shizuka-chan, perhaps there's something… I mean… The way you told the story it resembles a… Ghost's story…" he hesitated before the last part and casted a sidelong glance to scrutinize her reaction, she sweated a bit.

"There are only antiquities on that room… Most of them were there since the school was founded and many were brought from Europe, but…"

"You've said you heard the voice of a woman fist, but you have heard a man's voice today, right?" he had a chill just by repeating "Be it a ghost or not, we will check it with you, right?"

"Fine…" she unconsciously gave a small sigh in relief, like a burden had been taken out of her shoulders.

.

.

.

They went to the storage room at the last floor of the school building, on the left tower. Shizuka had the keys for the door and opened it hesitantly.

Most of the dust was cleaned, but there was a strange vibe coming from the dark place, although some rays of the moonlight entered by the stained glass. They looked around, searching for something possibly suspect, Shizuka stayed outside taking a peek, but after listening to the wind blowing by the corridors, she immediately stepped into the room, afraid there could be something lurking in the darkness.

"Did you find something…?" she gulped.

Sakuraba was searching on the left side of the room and Shin was on the opposite side, she followed the quiet linebacker as he stopped in front of something in particular.

"W-what is it?" her nervousness accentuated and she couldn't hide it on her voice.

"This portrait…"

The black-haired answered vaguely and his brows furrowed drawing a perplexed expression on his face. Sakuraba also came in haste to get a grip of the situation, his eyes widened when he saw the portrait.

"Wow… Shizuka-chan, the woman in the portrait looks like you…" he turned to stare at the girl, Shin too was amused with the great similarities. "It's almost the same face!"

"Muguruma-san said the same, but she was a princess, it seems… anyways I-"

She stopped middle-sentenced and her eyes widened. She was stunned for a second and an internal tremor ran down her body. She listened to the jingles of bells, her eyes flashed around the room, she turned looking for something in the depths of the darkness, but there was nothing.

"Shizuka-chan…?" Sakuraba called worriedly.

"H-huh?" she was startled "Right now… Did you…?" the sound ceased.

"What?" the brown-haired raised a brow.

"Forget it…" she sighed heavily.

Shin's expression was subtly afflicted and he clenched his fists, wasn't there anything they could do to help, really? His eyes traveled through the room, searching for any hint of what was happening, but there was none beside the strange portrait. Shizuka who had always been smiling resumed her expressions to sighs and dismay. His heart felt heavier knowing that he could only be a watcher as the situation worsened and became more dangerous for her.

"We can search it again tomorrow, in the daylight, right?" Sakuraba touched gently her shoulder, smiling to comfort her.

"Right." She bowed thankfully.

"Hey, Shin, let's take her home…" he poked the linebacker with his elbow, whispering as she left the room. "She isn't feeling well, but… We should avoid telling coach, it will only make her feel more sorrowed…"

"…" the black-haired ace had a grave expression.

Before they could decide what to do, Shizuka was standing at the entrance and they noticed something was strange. As they walked, she closed her eyes to concentrate on the repetitive sound of the bells jingling. The sounds of the steps of her friends became distant and she listened again, to a female voice…

When Sakuraba stretched his hand to touch Shizuka's shoulder and make sure she was feeling well, he halted and his body quivered instinctively. Her honey eyes were empty and focused on the faraway depths of the obscure corridor.

Her feature became sharper and stern, her face was completely different from the kind and warm Shizuka they knew, Sakuraba stepped back in an intuitive gesture. They got shocked when she pronounced:

"I shall run faster…"

Ignoring the two players near her, she prepared to run, but when her first step was given, Shin's eyes widened and he acted fast, grabbing her arm in alarm. The moment she felt someone was grabbing her arm, her expression changed again to irritation and she pulled her arm forcefully, using her elbow to hit Shin's torso with a thud. He instantly let her go, but the moment she escaped and gave the next step, as if she had lost all her strength, she fell down, dropping to the ground, before she fell, the linebacker caught her and supported her on his arm, squatting down smoothly.

He take a look at her face, her expression was bothered with something, and he wondered how she pulled up that strength to strike him, although he was used to get hurt, he knew she couldn't possibly use that quantity of strength normally due to the structure of her muscles, if she continuously used that force, she'd get a strain. He frowned worriedly.

"Shizuka-chan!" Sakuraba called out loud, dismantling Shin's thoughts.

She opened her eyes sitting in a hurry, startling both of them. Putting a hand on chest, her heartbeat was accelerated, it was almost pulling out of her body.

"Aren't you feeling well?"

The linebacker's grip on her shoulder was subtly strengthened as he inspected her expression to check if she was back to normal. Fortunately, she was, however…

"H-huh? Shin? Sakuraba-kun? What did happen? Why are we sitting on the ground?" she looked around confused. "I…" she touched her head, trying to oblige her memory to function properly, but it wasn't working. "I heard a voice calling… Who was it…?"

He let her go and casted a glance to the receiver, they both didn't use any word, but they could share the same impression about the case. It was becoming dangerous.

"Whose voice?"

"It was a woman, she was… Crying."

"Don't worry, we will take you home." The idol smiled in an assuring way, to soothe her concern. "You were only tired. It must have been stressing to handle it alone until now."

Those words were only superficial since his true thoughts were thinking about the explanation they'd give to the coach when they accompanied her home so late at night. There were lots of drops of sweat as he imagined how hard the trainings would be, even more for…

"….?" Shin had many question marks above his head, missing the meaning of the look his friend casted at him.

When they were going to the staircase to the second floor, Shizuka who was walking ahead stopped again, their steps halted and they felt a shiver running down their spines, like the air had become thinner and colder.

Shizuka slowly loosened the grip on her schoolbag and it slid down her fingers falling to the ground with a plump.

"I must… Rush to arrive there... She is waiting…"

This time, they were astounded with her seemingly senseless phrases and prepared to run yet again, Shin stepped by her side to impede, calling for her:

"Shizuka you shouldn't-"

Before he completed that advice, her expression became enraged and she immediately used her arm to strike his chest and shove him away, taking advantage of the impulse produced by the hit she started to run fast. Shin stepped back with her blow, but recovered almost immediately and followed her.

"Shin!" Sakuraba shouted and his voice echoed through the corridors.

She was running very fast. The linebacker frowned determined and speeded up his pace, stretching his hand to grab her collar, nonetheless a brief moment of distraction stroke him when he looked ahead, at the end of the corridor of the third and highest floor of the school, the whole wall was formed by a large, tall window.

"The princess is waiting… I need to…" the red-haired seemed out of mind, she didn't stop even facing the window.

Shin felt a thump, his eyes broadened frightened about the incoming results, would she really…? He didn't complete that logic, when there were a few centimeters of distance, Shizuka jumped towards the glass window, using her arms to protect her face, the glass shattered. Shin's heart skipped a beat, it all happened fast, but for him, it looked like an eternity, again Shizuka was putting herself at danger, but this time for a different reason.

The last time, he couldn't grasp her body or even reach faster, and she got injured, but this time, she would die for sure if she fell from that heights, the skills he had been honing during those last months for the fall tournament and during the tournament were put at use, he moved the same speed as eyeshield 21, he instinctively used his spear tackle grabbing her by the ribs and pulling her back.

He lost his equilibrium doing so and fall back, along with many fragments of glass, his mind functioned in a hurry, he couldn't let her fall on those shatters too, he instantly reacted, embroiling her body on an embrace and he was the only one who leaned his back on the sharp pieces. He squinted his eyes, probably there would be some cuts, but at least, this time he…

When he fell to the ground, a heavy plop was heard and the crackling sound of the glass breaking into smaller pieces. Shizuka was unconscious. His gaze hurriedly studied her face, and body, she seemed fine aside from some small cuts from the time she used her body to break the glass. He sighed in relief, tightening his embrace and closing his eyes for a moment, he wasn't late this time.

For some reason, the weight she had been feeling on his heart was soothed, he looked up at the ceiling above, and landed a hand on her head, her hair was sleeker than its appearance, his eyes softened with the thought that she was safe now and again his heart pumped in a controlled rhythm he had the sensation his blood was boiling wildly and concentrating on his face, but he couldn't understand why. He didn't have time to ponder about the moment, soon he listened to the hasted steps of his friend, panting and calling desperately:

"Shin! Shizuka-chan!"

He sat, carefully sitting Shizuka and resting her head on his chest, looking back to Sakuraba. The receiver stopped, supporting his hand on knees tired of running.

"You… Caught up to her in time…" he had a nervous smirk looking at the destructed scenery. "What… Did happen…?" his mind finally elaborated the answer for that question, his face became more desperate as he understood the seriousness of the matter "Don't tell me she…" he gulped, it was a rhetorical question.

"But…" a drop of sweat appeared on Shin's face when he looked at the sleeping beauty on his arms. "That wasn't Shizuka…" his brows furrowed profusely, he was somewhat annoyed and perplexed.

"Huh? W-what do you mean?"

"Shizuka can't run that fast… Her muscles are not trained for that, moreover when she hit me…" he touched his chest "Her strength was uncommon… Above all else, Shizuka would never treat us like that…" his brow curled in worry.

"… You're right…" the receiver's voice was filled with pity he was distressed that she had to pass through such situation after all that had happened, the bullies, the accident and now… "Her problems are endless… Would it be much to wish she had a peaceful day just once?"

"….." Shin left that as an interrogation, and closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened his calm, strict demeanor was back "We should take her out of the school…"

"Ah, that's right, it seems her strange behavior is related to the school's building…" his eyes sought a clue about the situation, but it was fruitless.

"Huh…?"

Shizuka opened her eyes again, rubbing them, it took some seconds for her to notice she was on Shin's arms. Firstly, she stared and blinked twice, not believing the situation; second, when he let go of her shoulder he had been holding until the moment, her blood boiled, accumulating on her cheeks, and the third scene was when she again, closed her eyes and pushed him away, screaming ashamedly. His upper body was pushed back a bit, but, again, differently from when she was possessed by something, her strength was not enough to defeat his rough body structure.

"Ugh…" after using that blow she touched her ribs, for some reason she felt pain.

"…" Shin's mouth curved down a bit, he had a lost expression. How would he explain that?

"S-Shizuka-chan. It's not what you're thinking!" Sakuraba took the lead, he had a déjà vu he was on a complex position again to explain it properly.

She whined a bit before her sight could catch a wind of the predicament. Her eyes widened in a sort of awe as she analyzed and comprehended what has happened during her lapse. The shatters of glass, the broken window and… Both her and Shin had a few cuts on arms, contrary to her, he didn't seem bothered or even aware of the fact there were some drops of blood staining his shirt. She glanced at them once more before her eyes became teary and flickered.

"Crap!" Sakuraba yelled internally "She's going to cry! No, no, don't cry, please!"

She covered her face with both hands and started to cry, apologizing causing some nervousness on the young idol.

"I'm sorry…" The muffled sound of her crying elicited a feeling of compassion on Sakuraba.

"She has been passing through a lot… No wonder she burst into tears…"

He sighed feeling helplessly. Shizuka always put herself in second place when it was about the others and Oujou, she omitted the bully case from him, and even jumped in front of a motorcycle to save Shin for the sake of the team. She asked them to hide the fact she was having such problems from her father and now, because of that odd case where she was hearing voices and walking idly during the night Shin got hurt and she almost killed herself.

Shin's constant frown hadn't disappeared from his face, his friend thought he could be thinking about what to say to not afflict her even more, since he was the one who stated she was a sensible girl. However his next words came as quite a shock:

"What are you crying for?" he cut right to the chase.

"Shin… Haven't you got it yet…? Of course it's because of the whole situation and you got hurt too!" it's what he wanted to say to the linebacker, but those words were stuck on his throat.

"… Shin you got hurt and… Sakuraba-kun and you were trying to help, but no matter what you do it keeps happening… I don't know what to do anymore…" she cleaned her tears and the hem of her sleeve was completely wet.

"We've promised we would help, but if you keep crying here, nothing will change, Shizuka." It didn't seem like a scolding, but his harsh words caused a startle on the girl.

The earnest and tranquil expression of the black-haired was sincere, Sakuraba again felt he was being extreme with the girl, but the fact she stopped whining and was paying attention to him meant his words had a soothing effect. Even when his expression hid it, he could sense Shin truly cared for her as he was really endeavoring to calm her down, besides, the quiet ace of the team was very talkative what was rare for him to see, even more if it was about making his intentions clear. His personality mismatched his current actions, but the receiver didn't think of it was something bad either.

"But…" she opened her mouth to contest and stopped with his next sentences:

"The same way you wanted to protect something, we were trying to protect you. That's why you shouldn't be crying, Shizuka. Instead," he stood up and offered his hand to help her "You should trust a bit on us."

Her eyes wavered in admiration for a moment, Sakuraba felt the same way, that shy, reserved person was talking about mutual faith and opening his heart. Shin had become a person who could talk about his feelings when it was needed, although he did seem like a disinterested and cold individual and those words alone sufficed to stop the cry of that girl.

Shizuka silently accepted his help and stood up, they stared at each other for a long moment, and he didn't let go of her hand even when she was already standing, Sakuraba felt it was a very intimate moment and got disconcerted to say something and break the mood, but soon, Shin let go of her hand.

"I'm sorry for causing troubles…" she bowed politely "And thank you for saving me this time…"

"….." the brow-haired teen smiled in relief scratching his head "That's nothing at all, you were the one taking care of us back then, right? It's our turn to take care of you, as Shin has said." He asserted lively.

A faint smile sprout on her lips, much to their surprise. They exchanged a glance before walking away. Well, that night was not completely saved, after all, they were punished at coach's house when they "delivered" his daughter after midnight. Shizuka was punished too because since Shin broke her second cellphone that year and she didn't mention it, her father was making inutile attempts to call her during the whole night. However, she seemed more confident and calm after their conversation.

Sakuraba's smile mitigated when he remembered that the case was yet unsolved and he imagined what could happen the next day, the symptoms were worsening and she almost died last time… What was lying behind the disturbing mystery.


	13. The Last Encounter

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 13:** The Last Encounter

 **Oujou's Library**

Sakuraba put a pile of books on the table with a thud and clasped his hands to clean it after carrying it to there. Both Shizuka and Shin had their eyes concentrated on that pile of large books.

"Well," he sighed "Those are the ones regarding the history behind the school's creation and it might have registered somewhere about the artifacts inside the school… For the time being, that's all we can do… Also, you must go home before the nightfall, Shizuka-chan, there's the possibility that you only get influenced if you stay on school for a long time…"

"I see…" her brows swirled up in some sort of concern as she sat.

They flinched when Shin picked the first book of the pile, sitting calmly and opening it to read. Sakuraba wheezed in relief, his friend had his own way of demonstrating his caring side, it seems. He did the same.

The red-haired looked at both of the for a moment and her eyes flickered, she was admired with their gentleness, then, she looked at that pile, she didn't have time to feel grief, she should do her part too.

.

.

.

"Ah!" Shizuka took a peek at her wristwatch "It's already late!"

The night had fallen already and now, Shin and Sakuraba had left to the training to not skip it and raise unnecessary suspects about her current predicament. After the training, they took a break to meet her outside the library.

"Shizuka-chan, you should have gone home…" Sakuraba was worried something weird could happen like the last time.

"I lost the notion of time…" she smiled nervously "But… I've found many interesting things… I'll tell you on the way…"

"On the way to where?" the brown-haired raised a brown.

"To the storage room, I think the source of the problem is there…" her expression had a saddened shade as she walked ahead.

Both players exchanged a glance, if they didn't want to put the highlights on them, it was imperative they came back before the break time ended. She told them what she learned from the books regarding the school's backstory:

"Firstly, we listened during our classes that the school was founded based on a European cathedral, right? When the headmistress founded Oujou she brought many artifacts from Europe… It includes the armors and weaponry we use on the festival, and also… A certain portrait… "

"Ah, that one with the princess who looks exactly like you?!" the receiver was almost reaching what she meant to say.

"Yes, I researched about that painting too… It seems it came from a castle of medieval age, the castle was part of an old kingdom that existed for long centuries in Europe… However, that kingdom entered in a terrible war… It seems that the princess fell for the enchants of a soldier and they promised to run away together, but when the war stroke their kingdom, he had to abandon his position as a guard and fight with the army… However…" her voice became hoarse "When most of the armies were fighting outlands, an enemy troop invaded the palace and the garrison that was supposed to defend it lost to the opponent, thus the palace was taken and on the last moment, because the princess couldn't bear the fact her loved one hasn't come back and that she would face a terrible destiny at the hands of the foes, she ran to the highest tower of the palace and jumped from there… When the army finally came back, the palace was taken and while they reconquered it, the young warrior grieved when he found out that his princess had committed suicide, not forgiving himself, he was inconsolable, then, he too, died in the war…"

"W-what?!" Sakuraba gasped in surprise and a drop of sweat rolled down, that story about jumping from the highest tower remembered him of…

"….." Shin also frowned concerned.

"Shizuka-chan… Do you mean…" he gulped "That princess has been taking over your body to…?" he hesitated.

"I don't know… But, I've been listening to a pleading voice, it was a woman's voice, but every time my mind goes blank, it's the voice of a man that I listen…"

"Hum…" the young idol put a hand on chin while "Shin has said something about you calling a princess…. Could it be that the one possessing you is the soldier, not the princess? I mean, she does not look a harmful person…"

"I want to discover it soon…" she sighed heavily "That's why we must go to the storage room…"

"But, isn't the storage room the source…? Are you sure it's the best choice if you go there? Every time you went you have been listening to those odd sounds and got possessed, right?" the receiver contested worriedly.

"I listen to it even outside the room, that's why I want to go either, to solve it faster."

"Shizuka-chan…"

Sakuraba's brows curled up in pity and she smiled resignedly, the moment she left the room, her legs wobbled and she fell down to the ground, they boys exchanged a warned glance before running to help her. When she opened her eyes, she rubbed it, then she sat on the ground and stared at them.

"A-are you feeling all right?!" the receiver asked worriedly.

"I am." She chuckled and stood up alone "But…" her eyes drifted to the corridor.

"Are you listening to the bells again?!" he whispered looking around.

"Yes…" she closed her eye for a moment, as if trying to find the origin of the sound, and with her eyes sealed she walked calmly following those bells jingling.

"Shizuka-chan…?"

The idol hurried up to catch her pace and Shin frowned, there was something off, was she possessed again? If she was, she'd probably start to run and knock them, but… Wasn't she too tranquil…?

The traits of her face were peculiar, her expression was serene and she was concentrated on whatever sound she was listening to.

"Shizuka." Shin called once as his brows furrowed intensely, he noticed there was something different about her behavior.

The girl swiftly turned her face to look at him, a brief smile colored her lips, but there was something strange about her expression the glint of her eyes sounded melancholic. Then, her smile vanished and her expression was confused. She looked around again, searching for something and her eyes landed on them:

"What happened?"

"H-huh?" Sakuraba felt a chill running down his spine "B-but you've said just now that you listened to…"

He was interrupted when Shin hit his shoulder once. The receiver stumbled one step ahead, his friend really didn't know how to moderate his strength, but he understood the message, he shouldn't tell she had gone out of mind for a moment.

"Shizuka, we need to go to the training or coach will notice there's something wrong, you should head back home and we can help you tomorrow."

"H-huh… Right…" she lowered her gaze.

He watched quietly as the red-haired went away, being covered by the shadows of the corridors at night. Sakuraba's eyes immediately were cast upon his partner. He couldn't understand why Shin had dispatched her when he knew it was dangerous. Was he finding the whole situation burdensome?

"Shin… Shizuka-chan is… Are you really planning postponing it for tomorrow? Time is precious and-"

"I know." The black-haired cut off his friend's sentence and closed his eyes pondering "We will check the storage today, after our training schedule, besides I believe there is an intricate relation to her behavior and that hour of the night…"

Sakuraba was impressed with his evaluation on the situation, he was really putting deep thought to the matter.

"Are you saying that, the reason you send Shizuka-chan away was to investigate without her around?"

"…" he casted a sidelong glance to his companion "Yes… The last time she jumped from the third floor, I considered she'd do worse this time…"

Even when his words sounded placid, Sakuraba could sense the worry displayed on his actions.

"Shin…"

.

.

.

After the training, the two of them decided to stay extra hours under the pretext of training more, although Gunpei advised them to not overuse their muscles or they'd get a strain before the match, but they said it would be the last time that week they would be doing extra training.

When they were organizing the clubroom to leave and make their search on the storage room, they heard steps coming closer near the entrance of the clubroom. An alert passed through their senses, they exchanged a glance before threading carefully, but they stopped some meters away from the door when their sight caught a glimpse of the person standing there.

"Shizuka-chan…?" Sakuraba's eyes broadened wide in stupefaction when he saw the red-haired.

She stopped near the entrance and a faint smile has sprout on her lips, a serene glint flashed on her eyes. Sakuraba gulped, for some reason, he felt there was something odd about her smile…

"You aren't…" his sentence was left unfinished when she interrupted.

"I need to go now…"

Her voice sounded softer and calmer than her usual tone, however, that smile adorning her face remained unchanged when the door of the clubroom closed abruptly with a thud. The receiver immediately ran and start knocking the door, calling for her:

"Shizuka-chan! Shizuka-chan, open the door!"

"Get back Sakuraba, that's not Shizuka." Shin blurted out with a scowl.

"What?!" he gasped.

They broke the door making their way to the corridor, and the only sight they had was Shizuka who was already turning to the next corridor, Sakuraba bite his lips and started to run to catch up to her, but, a strong wind blew past him, when he got a hold of the situation, Shin was already running far ahead, with full speed.

Shin could only focus on the girl running ahead, he was almost catching up to her, he stretched a hand to intercept her again, but before his fingers could reach her uniform to pull her back, the door of the storage room opened, causing a distraction, she entered and stopped running, he also entered and looked at her, frowning.

"Shin!"

He listened to Sakuraba's voice calling him, coming from the corridor and turned his head back a bit to look at the entrance, but the door closed again, with a heavy thud. He got startled and frowned even more, dedicating his attention solely to the person standing some meter away from him… They were now alone inside the eerie storage room.

The darkness spread through all over the corners, and the moonlight alone was not strong enough to illuminate the place.

"Who are you?" he asked boldly.

"…" she turned back and looked at him, her smile enlarged, then, her eyes turned to the big window of stained glass.

"What do you want from Shizuka? Let her alone." He clenched his fists.

"I can't." she finally answered, approaching the window.

Shin got alarmed, and stepped onwards but his body froze with her next sentence:

"Stay right there, if you come, I'll jump and she will be dead."

She turned and looked at him, the traits of her face didn't hold any resemblance to Shizuka. Her eyes were sharp and void, and her smile looked cynical. Some drops of sweat rolled down his face, his fists tightened, he was visibly irritated and concerned, a chuckle came out of her lips.

"Well, well, it seems this place has some gentlemen too…" she stepped back, staying closer to the widow. "It may sound egotistic, but I borrowed this body to fulfill my wishes…"

"I don't bother with your wishes, Shizuka is not a toy to play with, you can't kill her. I made a promise."

"A promise?" her curiosity was genuinely picked by that word.

"I promised I would protect her for the rest of my life, thus, I won't let you harm her anymore… Shizuka had enough injuries for her entire life."

Her gaze became darker and sharp as she listened to his sentence, her smile gained an obscure and bitter tone.

"What a lucky person… I'm envious…" she stepped back once more.

"…." Shin frowned "Let her alone, you don't have any right to use her body as you please. Shizuka has nothing to do with your problems… You can't sacrifice her for yourself."

"Sacrifice?" she chuckled sarcastically "You're missing the gist of the situation…" she looked into his eyes "I asked her help because she could listen to my voice… And she accepted it… I even saw her memories…"

"…?!"

For a brief moment he was confused, why would she accept to help a ghost? And since when has Shizuka been communicating with that ghost? From his perspective, she was scared and seemingly concerned about her situation, in addition, she didn't mean to harm herself or even get him or Sakuraba involved.

"That's… a lie." He said with a drop of sweat rolling down his face.

She got startled at first, then her smile enlarged as if he had seen through her, but she continued:

"Why do you think so? Had she really told her problems before…? When I took over her body, her memories were clear for me too… Had she ever opened herself before? Every time she handled a dire situation, she did it alone… Did she ask your help any time?"

"Shizuka…" he clenched his fists "Would never lie about this… Even if she didn't want us to know about her matters, she'd never lie about something that could bring trouble for us, because for her, because the most important thing for her now is… Oujou."

"Even if it's true, I need to go and meet that person… Back then…If had I waited longer, that person would surely come, but I couldn't… Nonetheless, now, I can finally meet him…"

Before she stepped more, a hand grabbed her arm briskly. She scowled at him with a venomous glare. They heard fierce knocks on the door, someone was trying to enter, it was Sakuraba calling them outside the room.

"You're not able to understand… I need to go… If he supposes I'm here, he will stay here too… I shall go and let him freed from his duty…"

Shin strengthened the grip on her arm, his brows were furrowed in an obtuse angle as he declared:

"You can go, but we will never let you carry Shizuka along with you…"

Her eyebrows curled in sadness as she listened to that, there was affliction and, at the same time, a reluctant will to proceed.

For some reason, he felt the grip on her arm weakening, not that he didn't have forces to hold her, but rather there was something strange about her weight and positioning, she was taller than him…? How…? Then, when his eyes were cast down, her feet were not touching the ground. His heartbeat accelerated and the sound of the knocks on the door got heavier it seemed like the door would break apart at any moment.

A saddened smile played on her lips her arm started to slide from his grip, he panicked internally, which sort of unfair magic was that? Shizuka was getting away, and shortening the distance between her and the window, Why was that even happening? Shizuka never did anything wrong to that ghost, or did she? Why was she being tormented? If Shizuka fell again from that height, then… This time she would… His heart was skipping beats again, but he couldn't afford himself to become nervous now, he had to do something.

He reacted on a whim, his body was used to react in high speed by now, after his severe trainings, he pulled her down, there was some resistance and he could understand well that Shizuka was incapable of displaying such strength, it was not her the one controlling that body now…

He pulled her down and they both fell to the ground, he embroiled her in a strong embrace, and his expression was grave, she also had a sharp, displeased expression.

"It seems you're quite honorable to fulfill your promises…" she commented in disgust.

"Shizuka has nothing to do with your problems, you can't drag her with you…"

"I've seen her memories… And I'm really sorry to say it, but I shall fulfill my promise too, if I let him waiting, he will never get free from this place, but for that, I need to be freed too, and that's the only way…"

The next moment, Shin got startled, his back weren't touching the ground anymore. He averted his gaze to the side to find himself floating as an annoyed expression was stamped on the girl's face.

"Let go of me…"

"There are things more frightening than ghosts in this world." He challenged slightly irritated.

"I'll jump and no one will break your fall, we will die and you won't be able to do anything more…"

They got closer to the window, but before she leaded the way outside and broke the stained glass, he continued:

"If you intend to kill both so us, so be it."

Her brows contorted in sorrow as she listened to him, there was an hesitant glint on her eyes. He felt his body float even higher, but he didn't close his eyes not even for a moment, he wasn't afraid, his only regret would be to die without being able to do fulfill his promise to the coach.

Then, they fell with a thud, on the same room. Shin was surprised at first, he took a brief look at the window not believing they were still inside the storage room, but the stained glass was intact, them he felt an impact on his chest, the possessed Shizuka was free from his grip, but she sat right there on the ground, her hand covered her face, she seemed disturbed by something.

"Why…?" her voice was hoarse and from between her fingers, he could see the hatred and pain mixed with confusion, those twisted emotions didn't fit her.

"If you really had seen the memories of Shizuka, you should know by now…" he was honest, but he was intimately worried about the result of that story.

"You…" her eyes were wet with tears as she glared at him. "I can't understand… Why would you do such…? You're not invited, neither allowed to come… You should watch quietly until the end… You should be paralyzed with fear… You-" her voice was becoming louder, until she was interrupted by his opposite calm voice:

"Shizuka…" he interrupted her laments with a serious expression, but his eyes were emotive, they had a soft glint as he talked "Even when she was afraid, she did not recede and put her life at risk, carrying her burdens alone… She could've died; yet, she felt there was something more important than her own life…"

He paused for a moment before choosing carefully his next words, it seemed to affect the spirit on some way since her eyes broadened in admiration as she listened to him:

"If I were to break my promise and abandon Shizuka here, I would not be worth her efforts when she tried to protect me back then…"

His honest words elicited many memories on his own mind, surprisingly, they were filled with Shizuka, and her smile, maybe it was something he could miss, and also, Sakuraba, the coach. If Shizuka was gone, they would feel sad, he clenched his fists, giving his final sentence:

"That's why, if she's going to die, I'll protect her even if it means dying with her."

The expression of the girl became unclear, her brows forced a way together on her forehead, but, at the same time, something inside her fought to make her emotions take a different path, she was saddened and the tears came down her face.

"Why…? That's not fair… I…" she covered her face.

Regret. That was the only emotion that spirit could express, even though she didn't say a word, Shin understood it because of the story they had found about her… The princess was probably feeling grieve for the death of her own self and for the death of her loved one.

"If… If had I waited for him… Would it be like this too? Would he do the same?"

"I don't know…" he closed his eyes "But you can't take Shizuka, because she is loved by many people in this world too…"

"… I…" she sobbed and wiped her tears, looking at him with a dry smile "I see… Back then if I had her strength, maybe I… Could've died in peace, even if it meant to die with him… But I was coward and couldn't have faith… That's' why…" her unstoppable tears fell down.

"…"

She wiped again her tears, and this time she stopped crying closing her eyes…

"Will I be able to meet him again, I wonder…" a faint smile came to her lips "It doesn't matter anymore… She's lucky to have such wonderful knight near her…"

He flinched once with her sudden declaration, before he could give a proper response, Shizuka fainted again, he felt a cold breeze passing by at the same time, when he hurried to support Shizuka on his arms. His eyes searched around for any trace of that strange spirit, but it was nowhere to be seen, also, his concentration was irrupted when the door opened in a burst.

Sakuraba was panting profusely, and he nervously caught up to Shin, and the fainted red-haired girl who looked like a sleeping beauty.

"Shin, how is she?! What did happen?!" he asked out of breathe

The linebacker stared at the girl sleeping on his arms, even him wasn't sure of what had truly happened. Maybe, that spirit was gone, or it could be still tormenting Shizuka, in any case, he would keep his words.

Her eyes opened slowly and she finally could awake from that dreary nightmare she had been living, she briskly and looked at the anxious glances stationed on her face.

"Sakuraba-kun, Shin… What…-"

They were impressed with something, she too was astounded when she felt the cold sensation on her cheeks there were tears rolling down her face… Why? She couldn't remember anything that had happened.

"Shizuka-chan…?"

"What did happen this time…?" she questioned feeling a pinch on her heart.

Much to their awe, Shin sighed heavily in relief, he had been feeling concern the whole time either. His words sounded like an appeasing song to their ears:

"It's over… That spirit won't bother you anymore…"

"H-huh?" she was perplexed "A-are you sure?"

"Yes…" he nodded firmly.

"I see…" she lowered her gaze, then, her eyes lifted swiftly to the painting near them "Maybe, she was only sad that she couldn't have faith in the person she loved most…"

"Shizuka-chan…" Sakuraba dropped to his knees feeling a fresh sensation washing away his worries. That tense night was finally ending…

"B-but…" she turned back to Shin "A-are you sure that I-I won't be possessed again…?" her words struggled to come out.

The next scene astonished both Shizuka and the receiver, with a faint smile on face, Shin confirmed again and on the next minute, he pulled Shizuka close in an embrace.

"Yes… Don't worry."

"H-huh?" she blushed from tip to toe.

"W-what?!" Sakuraba shouted exaggeratedly again, blushing softly.

How could his friend be so bold, no more than that, did Shin really smile back then? He could swear it was a smile, but Shin's lips were sealed close again, so it could be only his imagination, either way, it was astonishing. He let go of Shizuka and stood up, helping her to stand right after.

Sakuraba was caught for a moment in the scene unraveling in front of his eyes, that time, it really looked like a knight and a princess when Shin gently offered his hand and she accepted it without any hesitation, they both were looking at each other, like the world around had disappeared.

"We should leave, we can't stay here longer or coach will be worried." Shin broke the mood.

"A-ah, you're right! He will be mad since I didn't go back home earlier!" she panicked.

Sakuraba smiled feeling his heart at ease, finally everything was going back to normal. He only hoped that nightmare was really ending… They received another scolding from the coach when they walked her back home. Shogun did not show any mercy for them, but he would never know about the brief story of what happened to his daughter too. It was a secret between those three, a secret sealed into the walls of Oujou.


	14. Before the Decisive Match

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 14:** Before the decisive match...

Sena was in front of Oujou's school entrance, the front Garden of the school was splendid, but his legs trembled from nervousness and he gulped just by thinking he would enter that place, the place where his enemies lied ahead. Monta, on the other side, was quite excited and determined.

"We need to get information about the ballista!"

"B-but, Hiruma… He…"

The running back could remember perfectly how everything culminated on their current situation…

.

.

.

 **Hours ago…**

"Huh? Hiruma, aren't we going to train today?" Sena looked around inside the clubroom after finding extremely weird that his captain and other members were not in their uniforms to train.

"We have another task scheduled for today, shitty coward!" he showed a calendar.

The day was circled as "Oujou's open training inside Oujou's school festival", Sena flinched in surprise, he didn't know Oujou had a festival too, but it was quite obvious, it was only that he forgot Oujou was a common and traditional school like any other. He was used to see it as a school of another universe.

"Then… We're going to the festival to watch the training?" he asked unsure.

"Of course, and we will get some information about their new strategy too! Hiehaa!" he laughed like the devil.

"I knew it! We wouldn't go to Oujou only to watch the open training like any other normal school!" Sena shrieked internally after seeing the dark face of his captain.

"It seems really fun and all, b-but…"

Before Sena contested the decision of his captain the blonde kept going with his scheme, adding more spice to the plot:

"By the way, shitty bastard, I guess you have something to give back to a certain someone at Oujou's…" Hiruma picked a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Ah!" Sena panicked "Since when did he…?" he shivered as the laugh of his captain got louder "He's the devil himself!"

"Of course, you can't lose this gold opportunity!" Hiruma's flexible evil arm landed on Sena's shoulder, the running back looked like a guy being bullied.

"He wants to use a handkerchief from a pure girl to blackmail her and extract information about the enemy!"

.

.

.

That's how he ended up going to Oujou to exceptional plans aside watching the open training. He pulled off the handkerchief from his pocket, remembering Shizuka, since that time before the match against Bando Spiders he hadn't seen her, he wondered if she would be fine.

"Let's go in, Sena!"

Monta slapped his back and he stumbled one step ahead, entering the school ground. The place was beautiful, something that seemed to come out from a movie, the orange and yellow petals colored the ground.

The festival was more normal than Sena thought, in fact, he was surprised it looked like an average school festival, there was some students using armors and some carrying blue standards with the school's blazon. Was it because of the tradition of the school? Then, amidst the armored students his eyes met a beautiful girl wearing a medieval dress and long silk gloves. She looked like a princess, then, her honey eyes stationed on him.

"Sena-san!" she beckoned so sweetly it looked like an essayed gesture.

"H-huh? Shizuka-san?" he approached stunned, she looked completely different, like a real princess.

"Wow, they did invest in the costumes!" Monta commented impressed.

"We use them every year, and my class was assigned to clean and wear them this year…" she smiled softly. "Enjoy the festival, please."

"Ah, yeah…" he scratched his head a bit abashed "By the way, did you see…"

"Ah, the team was having matches against the students of Oujou's college… Well, I don't know if the training has ended, but you can search for Seijuro and Sakuraba-kun there…" she gave some directions to the gymnasium.

"Seijuro…?" Sena was confused.

"Ah, I mean, Shin."

"Ah… That's right, that's his name…"

He felt there was something different about Shizuka beside the fact she looked fairly healthy… Did she seem happier? What did happen, by the way, was she calling Shin by his name instead of the surname? Did he lose some part of the story?

"B-by the way Shizuka-san… Here…" he took the handkerchief out of his pocket, feeling dumb to have held it for so long, scratching his head.

"Ah, that's from that day…"

"Actually, I'm sorry for holding it until now…" he bowed deeply.

"No, no, you don't need to apologize. I had already forgotten about it, don't bother." She gestured with a soft smile.

"I-I'll be going then." He bowed clumsily again and left with Monta.

"Have a good day."

.

.

.

An event was occurring, a quiz, it would be in duos, so they were making the inscriptions.

"H-huh? Are you saying I should take part?" Shizuka asked with a drop of sweat.

"We need someone to represent Oujou too, who would be more suited than the princess?" her colleague incentivized.

"Huh? But the loser will have to use a maid costume…" Sakuraba commented and his fertile imagination depicted an image of Shizuka, she was cute, but, coach wouldn't be happy about this.

Shin who had been standing with crossed arms flinched and immediately casted a glare to his friend, touching Sakuraba's shoulder.

"H-huh? Shin?"

"You're the star." He declared with an intense gaze, as if saying that Sakuraba should represent Oujou.

The receiver felt a shiver running down his spine when he sensed the menacing aura and the scary expression his companion had.

"Iiiek! He is throwing me to the wolves for the sake of Shizuka!" he shrieked internally.

"Coach will be proud of you for doing such noble act."

"He's trying to persuade me, his arguments are fine, but…"

In the end, Sakuraba was dragged by Ootawara and they really lost the quiz, rendering a funny scene when they went to the train in maid costumes. Shizuka appeared on the open training, and contained her laugh putting a hand to cover her mouth.

"T-this is shameful…" Sakuraba felt depressed using the maid costume. "Why do we have to use this?"

"You're handsome in any costume, Sakuraba-kun, don't worry." She patted his back once to comfort him.

He whined and went to train, causing many chuckles from his teammates and making some girls faint.

"Shizuka, what are you doing here?" Gunpei asked. He was sure she should be welcoming people at the entrance of the festival.

"I came to take a peek at the open training, and to see you, of course." She gave a peck on his cheek.

He raised a brow, what as that sudden happiness. In fact her mood have been cheerful those last days, he wondered what had happened, and an air of distrust soared on his head and he narrowed his eyes, not that it wasn't good his daughter was joyful.

"You don't need to, don't let your duties to come here or will get scolded."

"Don't worry, my turn ended, there's another girl playing the role of the princess, I'm going to have a change of clothes, but I decided to pass here before since the training was about to start…" she landed her hands on the protective bars of the field.

He let a brief smile come to his lips as he watched his daughter observing the training. Her eyes had a glint he had seen on rare occasions, and he wondered the reason why she loved too much football, was it his influence or… Then, his mind enlightened, he narrowed his eyes in doubt and raised a brows looking at the two players who always hanged out with her.

"Shizuka!" he called out loud, startling her, she was apprehensive seeing he had crossed arms.

"What?" she approached carefully enlacing her fingers trying to guess if he would give a scolding or not.

"Go change those clothes already, you'll distract the public!"

"E-eh?" she sweated "But, father if I go now I won't watch the-"

"It's not an option!" he asserted.

She lowered her head from dismay and left the place, the coach sighed in relief, however his relief turned into stress when Shin passed by and stopped , looking at the coach with a frown:

"Don't worry, coach, Sakuraba entered the contest and used a maid costume for her sake. She's safe."

Shin continued to run around the field, heating for the match, it was time enough for Gunpei to process the information. A vein popped making a crackling sound and his arterial pressure boiled, making his face become red like a tomato and smoke waft from his ears.

"Como right here your braaaaaaaat!"

.

.

.

After the busy day at the school festival, both Monta and Sena had to run away from Hiruma's shooting since they couldn't fulfill their mission of getting information from Shizuka on their own.

As for Shin and Sakuraba, they trained until late at night. The following days were filled with work for him the trainer revised some strategies on the clubroom, when he left and closed the door, he found an unexpected person outside the room, leaning on the wall.

"Shizuka?"

"Father, I was waiting for you."

"You shouldn't be here so late, your sister will get angry at me again."

"She's always angry, there's nothing wrong in wanting to see your face. You must be anxious for the next match."

"I have been doing it for many years, I'm fine."

"But the players must be anxious too."

"They can control their anxiety too, they'll do their best."

"Don't be so harsh, I only came to wish good luck for the next match tomorrow."

"…" he sighed tiredly and put an arm around her shoulders, rubbing it. "It's fine. I have something to do, so, you should go home now, right?"

"Right." She answered cheerfully.

He watched as she left with a smile, soon it faded from his stern face and he went to place that brought him many memories: Enoshima stage. He took a seat in the bleachers and watched the wind blowing through the night, the moon. Then, he hears steps coming closer, he didn't need to turn to guess who was it.

"Doburoku, as expected, you came too…"

"Of course… That's the place of that fated day… And it seems the destiny insisted on reuniting our pupils right here…"

"That's ironic, we lost here a long time ago and had our dreams crushed…" Gunpei sounded melancholic "They come to the same stage… Sheesh…"

"Well, again, one of them will have their dreams crushed, but I trust my players."

"I do trust them too, let's only watch and see who will win." There was an amicable challenge on his tone.

"You're the same…" he sniggered. "But I bet the match is not what's bothering you."

"You're still sharp, huh…" Oujou's coach sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a moment "No, I'm having problems with my daughter."

"Who? The one who study on Oujou?" he narrowed his eyes mischievously "Don't tell me she got a boyfriend and you're the great daddy worried over his daughter?" he joked

"That's not it." he frowned. "It's not about Shizuka… I had some issues of that sort too, but I took care of it already."

"Poor child." His friend thought.

Douburoku had a serious face on the next sip of sake, when he looked at his friend, waiting the continuation of that story, and it didn't tardy, when Gunpei crossed his arms and looked to the empty field.

"Shizuka had been very lively recently, but my oldest daughter Megumi disagrees that Shizuka continues on Oujou… The blame is, in part, mine because I couldn't give proper attention to Shizuka and an accident happened… Megumi wants to take Shizuka away from me, she believes I can't give a proper education to my daughter and that, if something happens to Shizuka I won't be able to take care of her… Now she decided to live on another city and take the young sister with her…"

"That's complicated…" Doburoku offered his bottle of sake, but Gunpei shook his head negatively.

"I haven't told Shizuka yet that her sister is planning to take her away from Oujou… She had been so happy recently, and since the last week her smile got even brighter, I didn't wat to tell her right away, but I'll have to tell it at some point… I tried to dissuade Megumi, but she is inflexible… I'll try once more after the match, but… If I don't win… I'll tell Shizuka…"

"I wish you a good luck."

.

.

.

On the day of the match, both trainers were concentrated on their own teams, there was no sign of the last conversation they had. Shizuka wanted to go to the bench and cheer for them, but she refrained herself that time, and let them concentrated on the match, as her father always asked her to do.

She watched as they entered the field, the sky was cloudy and the forecast would be a heavy rain with a looming tempest of rays. Clasping her hands together, she prayed for them, this time, she wanted from the bottom of her heart that they won Deimon in a fair match. What would happen now? Would Shin be able to fulfill the promise he did to her father? She wanted to believe on him and that her father would finally overcome his loss during his days as a player.


	15. Departures

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

Sorry the delay!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 15:** Departures

Shin tautened his gloves to adjust it on his hands, his eyes looked at the spectators, they cheered for Oujou in a loud, enthusiastic manner. His eyes passed by the contingent of people filling the team with expectations, then, it turned to the bleachers, where his coach was already giving some instructions to players.

His eyes inflamed, a powerful aura seemed to leak around him. He himself might not be aware, but his teammates were almost scared with his presence. He was determined to win, and this time it was not only for the promise he had made to the coach. His eyes drifted to the spectators again, Shizuka was somewhere, this time, for some reason he couldn't understand, she refused to stay on the bleachers near the team, but he was doing it for her too.

Even Sakuraba was animated, something he could rarely witnesses. Since the boy had gone to the training on Germany, he came back like that, different, something inside him had changed, and Shin couldn't deny he felt a bit proud and admired that his friend had grown so much. He slapped the back of the receiver with a thud and a stern expression:

"Ouch!" Sakuraba said feeling the pain, Shin didn't know how to control his strength "What was that for?" he massaged his back, with some repulse.

"Oujou will win." Shin resumed his feelings in a few words that could not express the depth of his thoughts completely.

"Y-yeah…" he stared at the linebacker with a raised brow. What was wrong with his friend today?

They had a fierce match, both teams demonstrated their skill as players, and each time one of them got the control of the match, the other side demonstrated a persistent will and turned the table.

Shizuka's heart was almost pulling out of her chest, under that hefty rain the players were giving their all, and it made her anxious. When Shin and Sakuraba acted as a duo, she smiled briefly, they could be very different, but she always thought as both of them as great players.

She watched her father from the grandstands, he was using a hat to protect form the rain, but she was worried he would get a cold, although, he seemed too concentrated to bother about that. Shizuka was sure Oujou would win, she had faith on them, but… At the last moment, the last offensive from Deimon… Oujou lost.

Her eyes teared up. She couldn't believe it, that they would lose. Not that Deimon wasn't strong, but… After all they've passed, Oujou has… Maybe that rain came on the right moment.

.

.

.

"Shin-san," Sena stretched his hand. "It was a good game."

"Yes."

They greeted each other. Now that their battle had finally ended, many emotions swirled inside their minds. Everything started with a boy who wanted to surpass Shin, but along the way, Shin himself developed some sort of rivalry with Sena acknowledging him as a worthy opponent, and now, he had surpassed him.

"Next time, Oujou will win." Shin declared.

"Wha- I mean…" Sena scratched his head abashedly but when he looked at Shin's earnest expression, he breathed some courage and retorted "No, next time, I'll be the one challenging you."

They both smiled, for Shin, his third years was about to start, and for Sena he still had two years lasting to carve his name on the history of Japanese American football until they went to college.

Takami assigned Shin as the new captain of Oujou, and the one who should lead them on this new generation. He understood the heavy responsibility it represented, but he also thought he could give his best as the captain.

When he was walking away of the stadium, the rain had ceased, but the sky was still cloudy, he wondered if it would rain again and wash away their loss. He stalled when he caught a sight of Shizuka. Had she been waiting there all time? He hadn't seen her that day, he only knew she was somewhere on the grandstand.

He clenched his fists, how could he look at her now? Oujou has lost the match and he couldn't fulfill that promise he made, it was bitter to admit it, but he had no time to mourn over the loss.

Shizuka had a worried expression, but he could see the red corners of her eyes, and there were some tears forming.

"Shizuka, I'm sorry…" he closed his eyes lowering his head, and putting his arms on the back.

"Huh?"

"I couldn't fulfill my promise and Oujou has lost. Coach must be disappointed. I'm sorry." He bowed. "Apologize might not be enough to honor your efforts, but…" he raised his head on the next moment "I'll make sure to honor your efforts next time…"

"I know…" she chuckled, startling him "I was worried because for Takami-san and Ootawara-san it would be the last match… I really believed Oujou would win, you all trained so hard…"

Her eyes teared more as she talked and her voice wavered at each word pronounced. Shin felt a strangling sensation thumping side his heart, it was painful for him watch that. His brows curled saddened and he opened his mouth to talk, but she continued:

"I was worried you would feel sad, but… " she wiped her tears and sniggered "After seeing you talking to Sena-san, I understood… You never smiles, but when it comes to football, you're as helpless as my father… But I also realized that… Oujou still has you, Shin and Oujou has Sakuraba-kun too…"

She stepped ahead until she was standing in front of him, although there were tears rolling down her face, her smile was sincerely happy.

"You don't need to promise anything, Shin… If you can smile like that and keep training, I'm sure Oujou can grow even stronger on the new generation."

Opening her arms, she pulled him in an embrace. He was surprised at first, and although his uniform was soaked in rain and mud, she didn't seem to bother. He could swear she was still crying, but he couldn't see her face clearly.

"Shizuka… Thank you…" he corresponded that embrace, closing his eyes.

Sakuraba was searching for Shin at that moment, but his body halted and he immediately hid behind a wall after watching the scene.

"T-those two… What are they doing in the middle of the day?!"

He panicked thinking internally, but soon, he sighed in relief and a brief smile came to his lips. It was good that those two were finally developing their relationship and he shouldn't interrupt it now. He only couldn't predict that the decision wasn't up to him. A shiver ran down his spine, he felt a strong, dangerous aura pouring out behind him. His head staggered as he looked back, feeling an intense tremor within him.

"C-coach…" he stuttered and gulped watching as veins popped out the trainer's head.

"What are you two doing!" he yelled out of his lungs with a fuming rage. "Shizuka!"

The linebacker and the girl flinched with the call and separated immediately, seeing the urgency on the coach's voice.

"H-huh father." Shizuka blushed.

"Your brats!" he yelled scolding them.

"Coach, your daughter was crying." He confessed.

"I-I wasn't!" she retorted blushing more. "T-that was…"

"You're a hundred years earlier to have my daughter, your brat!" Shogun clenched his fists and Sakuraba had to hold him back.

"You're embarrassing me, father!" Shizuka used her hands to cover her flushed face.

The heated moment proceeded and ended up with both Sakuraba and Shin going away and letting Shizuka to appease her father's anger.

.

.

.

The following week, the coach invested more on trainings and the veterans still helped the younger members of the team, many of them cried when the veterans announced their retirement from the team. Shizuka watched everything with the hope that Oujou would become a stronger team next year too.

After the trainings of the day, Shizuka took a cup of coffee for her father at his office, he was solving some sort of trouble with Daigo, the troublemaker from Oujou. Shin and Sakuraba were also there, serving as some sort of mediators for Daigo.

Shogun casted a brief glance at her and averted his gaze finishing his scolding. Daigo stormed out the room, Sakuraba and Shin passed by Shizuka and greeted her silently, following after their companion.

"Did he break something again?" she asked with a drop of sweat on her face "You shouldn't get too stressed."

Her father crossed the arms and breathed deeply to calm down, then, his gaze landed upon her as if he was studying her expression. Her cheerfulness came back even after the loss of the team. She was startled when she saw his penetrating gaze and question marks hovered above her head. Was he unsatisfied with something about her conduct or something? He had already scolded Shin and established a "safe" area which the player shouldn't cross.

He coughed to clean his throat and initiated his speech with a serious tone:

"Shizuka, I need to talk to you."

"Hehe, you're too serious, father…" she chuckled and a thought crossed her mind "Please, just don't say it's about Seijuro or Sakuraba-kun again…" she was unsure if he would again become overprotective around her.

"No…"

He answered vaguely, but his calmness disrupted her lively mood, her smile gradually disappeared from her face when she looked into the eyes of her father.

"What did happen…?"

"Shizuka, this matter regards your sister…" he said in a worried tone.

"Megumi…?"

Her brows curled up in concern, every time the name of her sister was mentioned, she felt it was something hard to solve. There was a friction between her father and her older sister and it was not a secret, but recently, Megumi had been very quiet…

Her heart thumped heavily, she didn't want that anything happened right now and ruined her mood, but that was a labile wish…

"Shizuka, you…" her father sighed and started to tell what bothered him so profoundly that he couldn't stand looking into her honest eyes.

.

.

.

Three days passed since then, Shizuka missed classes and Sakuraba was starting to wonder if she was sick. Shogun looked more serious and stern, but his mind traveled to another place from times to times, he got distracted during the trainings.

Shin was quiet about Shizuka's absence, but his friend felt that, under that calm, cold façade he too was bothered and curious about her. Well, the wide receiver took the initiative and hesitantly asked:

"Coach, did something happen to Shizuka-chan? She has been missing classes…"

Gunpei raised a brow as if admiring the courage Sakuraba had to ask that to him when he had clearly stated to him and Shin to "stay away" from his daughter, but his expression changed and he stared at the player with an unfathomable serious emotion:

"She had some issues to solve and couldn't come those days."

"… I see." he bowed briefly and left with a concerned expression.

Shogun's gaze lowered and he sighed heavily, it was clear he was hiding something from the, still…

.

.

.

The next day, when Shin and Sakuraba were entering the school, on the entrance garden, they've spotted Shizuka. She greeted them with her usual brilliant smile.

"Shizuka-chan!" Sakuraba beckoned "Where had you been? We were worried."

"Sorry… I had some matters to solve at home…" she scratched.

"By the way, what are you doing standing here…?" a drop of sweat rolled down his face "By any chance were you waiting for us…?" he pointed to himself and to Shin.

"Actually, yes." She nodded. "There's something I'd like to tell you."

"H-huh…? Us?" Sakuraba pointed at himself and exchanged a glance with his partner.

"Yes. The year is ending, so, there are only the final exams for the next, and… Next year I'll not study here on Oujou."

"Eh…?" Sakuraba's eyes flickered while he tried to understand her words. "You will not be here…?"

Even Shin was surprised with her declaration. Why? It didn't make sense. Her father loved the school and Shizuka too. Why would she transfer to another school on her last year?

"Why…?" the young star gulped, confused.

"Well, my time here on Oujou was precious, I've learned many things and if I could, I'd spent happily another year here. But I don't have anything more to offer to Oujou."

"What are you saying…?"

"Ahaha…" she scratched her head sliming clumsily "I know it's sudden, but, I wanted to talk to you personally before I left…" her smile had a serious, slight serious tone "I really enjoyed my time here, but unfortunately, I can't stay longer."

"Why...? Is that because of what happened with the bullies?" the idol was worried.

"No… That's not it…" she chuckled "Well, to tell the truth, I'll not be living on this city anymore… I'll move to another city, to live with my sister, so it will be a bit hard for me to come to every match, but I'll do my best to watch the incoming tournaments!" she clenched her fists determined.

"What… Move…? To where?" the wide-receiver was flooded with thoughts coming at once, and he couldn't put his ideas together, nor his words.

"It's a city three hours away from here, so I won't have that much time to help you…" she scratched her face again, feeling a bit guilty

"But, Shizuka-chan, what about your father…?" Sakuraba's tone was a mix of perplexity and angst.

"My father will stay here. Of course, he also supported this decision… He believes it will be better too."

Shin frowned, what did it mean? It was her father decision? But why would he take such decision? Shizuka loved Oujou and her father knew it very well.

"Well…" she seemed nervous after taking a look at their expressions "I only wanted to tell you before I went… It would be strange if I didn't… I'll be moving next week…"

She bowed and started to leave. They watched wordless as she vanished of their sight, it was unbelievable and they felt it was not a decision she was too happy about, then… Why was she going to leave? She stated she would do anything for Oujou, yet, here she was leaving the place so suddenly…

The linebacker closed his fists tightly, why did the coach supported her decision? There was something off about her mild behavior, she would never accept something that she considered harmful or stand still if someone tried to force her doing something she didn't agree to. His eyes focused on her silhouette as many memories passed through his mind, was she really going away for real this time…? Neither he had protected her nor he was able to keep his promise and it seems he wouldn't have another chance to keep his promises either.

"Shin."

Sakuraba slapped smoothly his shoulder to call his attention and he turned at his friend with a flinch.

"Yes…?"

"We need to go, or we will be late to the classes…" he lowered his gaze

"…." Shin didn't say a word, but his companion had tact enough to understand his feelings right away:

"I'm still confused too, but… We don't have time to think about it now… Plus, she has said she was the one who decided and the coach allowed to, right…? Maybe he is worried about everything that happened… Unfortunately, we can't interfere if it's about family matters…" he sighed heavily, feeling depressed.

"….."

Shin raised his head and they both entered the school, maybe that New Year wasn't going to be as good as they thought.

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

A happy new year, my readers! I hope the best in 2017 for you!


	16. Shin Seijurou

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

Sorry the delay. The story is coming near its end! The final arc will start in one or two chapters!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 16:** Shin Seijurou

The week before the final exams, Shizuka left the school, it seems her father and sister negotiated to make the exams in advance so she could transfer as soon as possible.

Sakuraba looked at the vague seat behind Shin, he felt nostalgic and gloomy, looking at the ground while he pondered over the latest happenings. Trainer Shouji looked completely unfazed and even calmer, even though he knew the man was probably feeling sad for not having his beloved daughter around. As for Shin… He could only remember the "awkward" happenings that took place on those last days…

.

.

.

"Hey, Shin, would you add more twenty kilos for me?"

Sakuraba asked, laying under the weight to raise it and exercise his muscles. He had been trying to surpass his last record of seventy kilos, but it wouldn't be easy.

Shin looked vaguely at him and nodded. The young idol closed his eyes sighing, his friend never talked much to begin with, but he was surprisingly quieter after Shizuka's departure. However, his eyes opened in a hurry and almost popped out when he felt the weight from the addition Shin had done.

"Ugh… Wah-"

The muscles of his whole arm trembled as he tried to sustain those heavy weights, what was wrong with those kilos? He was sure he could lift, at least, ninety kilos. His sight came across a disturbing scene and he immediately complained:

"S-Shin, you've put forty kilos! I'll die! It will fall on me! Help!" he asked desperately as his face and body grew redder not supporting.

As if awakening of his mental slumber, Shin got startled and rushed to help him taking the weight until Sakuraba recomposed.

"Huff… Huff…" the young star wheezed, scared of what could be the outcome if Shin had not helped "S-Shin… Do you want to kill me?!"

"Sorry…" he bowed slightly a bit disconcerted.

Nonetheless, that was not the only strange case that occurred, the next day, during the running schedule around the field: Shouji Gunpei had his arms crossed and ordered with his stern face:

"Three rounds around the field! The last one will pay push-ups as punition!"

They all ran and were almost out of breathe at the last meters of the third round, but there was someone who was diligently running without any difficulty: Shin. Sakuraba casted a slight concerned glance at his friend, he was apparently calm and concentrated on his task, but he was sure there was something off…

His eyes narrowed and his suspicions only confirmed when past the third round, Shin continued running, the trainer called him ten times before he listened and stopped lost on the situation, bowing and listening to the coach's lecture.

"That guy is usually indifferent towards people, but recently he has been… Very airy… It happened since…" he gulped and sweated "Oh, yes, I knew it… He has been like that since Shizuka-chan was gone… Was there really something serious going on between those two?"

.

.

.

 **Shogun's office**

There was a knock on the door, Shin entered after asking permission. The trainer had his arms on back and stared with a strict expression towards the young player.

"Did you summon me, trainer?"

"Yes. I'll be straight, so don't worry…" he stared at the linebacker "Shin, is there something bothering you?"

"…" the player flinched in surprise and his eyes wavered as he looked at the trainer, soon his emotions soothed as if they weren't there to begin with "No…"

"… I see…" he sighed heavily and scratched his head, turning his back to Shin, to look out of the window of his office "I've heard from Sakuraba and other players you have been spacing out often those last days… I'm not asking you to tell us if you have a reason, but you need concentration for the trainings and your studies too… If there's something bothering you, you should take it out of your mind…"

There was a moment of silence and Shin lowered his gaze, pondering deeply about something until he raised his eyes and spoke calmly:

"… Coach… There's something I'd like to ask… It isn't regarding the training, but… If you allow me…"

Gunpei let out a grave sigh, he predicted what it could be, but he wasn't willing to believe until he listened to Shim himself talking in a very respectful tone:

"Coach… Why did you agree with Shizuka's transference?"

As expected, his favorite player was indeed a straight, dauntless man, but it was quite annoying on such situations. Was that what had been bothering Shin to the point he wasn't even training properly or focusing on his daily duties? What a troublesome situation.

What Shoji Gunpei wanted to tell off was: "You have nothing to do with this!" right away, however, he understood it would be unfair and imprecise to say this. In fact, he was very aware of the bond formed between those two after Shizuka saved Shin from the accident, and his daughter had become a special figure for the team, almost like their good-luck charm. Now, after their loss and with Shin assuming his new duties as captain, in such delicate moment, a problem occurred and she had to leave the school.

He lowered his gaze, it's not like he didn't want to interfere on her transference but there were other factors involved that turned the whole predicament more complex.

A slight frown was formed between Shin's brows as his only response was the silence of the older man, Shoji wasn't even looking at him. Then, the trainer finally told in a cold, strong voice:

"Shizuka decided to transfer because there were many things happening recently, but it has nothing to do with you."

It was unusual that Shin would get upset or even annoyed at someone's actions, neither had he wanted to offend the coach in any way even after listening to that obvious lie, but the words couldn't stay still on his throat:

"Coach, you must know that Shizuka treasured this place and cherished specially the fact you were here, it's impossible her decision was solely hers, but she wouldn't tell us even if someone had told her to agree with this… Shizuka would do anything to stay here and support the coach because you're an example for her… I cannot believe she would leave everything behind just because someone told her too… She'd want to stay here as long as possible… You should know it too, coach…"

"I comprehend you must be feeling sad for her sudden departure, but this does not concerns you anymore Shin. I'm grateful for looking after Shizuka while she studied here, but you don't have any obligation anymore!" His eyes darkened and he shouted the last phrase in a harsh tone.

He calmed down, trying to maintain his strict posture, but he was also fazed by the current situation.

"I know Shizuka has been taking efforts to help the team and you may have earned some sympathy for her, but she can't continue here… Everything that happened with her so far since she stepped into this place were misfortunes. She deserves a better life, but she won't find it here."

Shin's frown only accentuated, at this point, he was certain there was something his trainer was omitting, still, he couldn't simply ignore the fact that the coach knew about Shizuka's feelings all along and couldn't move a finger to help her. More than that, he was confused, even though many bad things had happened, why would the coach allow her departure when she was so happy after dealing with those troubles?

"I'm sorry coach, but I don't think Shizuka thought this way."

"What?" Gunpei finally turned and his perplexed gaze stationed on Shin's annoyed expression.

"Even after everything that happened, Shizuka was happy just to be here with you Coach, more than anyone, you should know all she wanted was to watch and help in your success… That's why she could smile even after those incidents as long as you were also happy with that… I don't think she will be happier on another place, because her happiness was already here in Oujou." The said the last part with his eyes transfixed on the coach.

"This brat…" Gunpei's eyes flickered, he knew that too, but listening to Shin's scolding was aggravating, the player who respected his the most was now lecturing him and challenging his choices as a father.

"If you still think it was the best for her, I won't question your decisions, I cannot comprehend a father's mind, but I don't believe you could comprehend Shizuka's mind either…"

"You're right. There's no way I can understand her mind, but I know what's better for her."

It was sculpted on the linebacker's expression that he disagreed with Shouji, and a defiant, annoyed glare, but for his respect, he bowed and told:

"… That was all I had to say. Excuse me, coach. I have train scheduled for the afternoon…" he finally relaxed his posture and turned to the exit

"… Sure…"

He was too astounded to think on any answer to scold the boy at the moment, he simply couldn't believe and at the same time, the feeling of blame for letting his daughter go just because he couldn't dissuade her sister was weighting on his mind. He understood how Shizuka loved that place, yet he let this happen.

He passed his hand through his face, nervously. It was his fault. If Shizuka became unhappy in the future, he would feel blamed for the rest of his life as a father. But what could he possibly do? He didn't have any argument to contest her sister's accusations and Shizuka probably tried to accept because she knew the relationship between her father and her sister was deteriorated, so she wouldn't do anything that could trouble more her father or contribute to destroy their relationship.

His daughter had the inclination on trying to solve problems alone, even when it was not her problem at all. She did it with Shin, she hid the bullies from Sakuraba, and after learning her transference was just an opportunity to affect her father, she tried to conclude it as pacifically as possible and didn't say a word of complaint to her father. It was what pained him more, seeing his daughter locking her feelings in order to not make him feel sorrow. As if he was incapable of noticing that she was contrary to this decision.

"I'm sorry Shizuka… Maybe your father is just a coward that doesn't deserve your admiration…"he covered his eyes painfully.

.

.

.

Sakuraba was startled when he spotted Shin walking on the corridor of the coach's office. He had been worrying about his friend, and although he knew the reason why Shin was daydreaming, he thought it was wiser if he let the coach have a proper conversation since it also was related to him.

"Ah… Shin…" he beckoned.

The linebacker saw him, but he didn't sketch any reaction and walked past Sakuraba. The young idol followed him with a drop of sweat rolling down his face, the mood was tense.

"Hm… Did something happen?" he gulped after receiving a stern glare from Shin.

"No…"

The receiver stopped walking and his brows contorted in perplexity after he listened to his friend. His mouth pronounced a sentence, but his face was nowhere near what he meant with his words. Shin looked irritated by something, and the only conclusion he could achieve from this pieces of information was that something **did** happen.

"Sheesh…" the young idol sighed and put his arms behind his head. "Is he going to train even in this moment, I wonder…?"

.

.

.

Sena and Monta were coming back from the grocery store, Hiruma forced them to run all the way to buy some things for the club and set cerberus after them, they've ran so fast that they were completely out of stamina on the way back and decided to walk back slowly. They deceived Cerberus with food and he walked slowly too.

"Ah… He's making the trainings harder… Why is it?"

"I'm not sure, he probably want us to give our best since the winter cup is coming soon…" Sena lowered his eyes, but then, looked ahead, and his eyes caught an interesting sight.

Shin was running his eyes were looking ahead to the path he followed daily, but his thoughts were on a complete different dimension. He was passing through the small road with a cliff in which the fatidic day he met Shizuka happened.

He could only listen to his heavy panting since he had been running endless for hours, but no matter how much time he invested, his mind could not settle. What was happening to him after all? He thought if he occupied himself, he could just ignore and forget everything that happened, but the fact was… He didn't want to forget, and when he himself became aware of that, he could not forgive himself for not being able to do a thing for Shizuka at the end.

While he was immersed on his thoughts he heard a sound, when he finally noticed what was happening, he almost stumbled on a biker riding a small bicycle, luckily he stepped to the side with his reflexes, but the biker huffed him for his lack of attention.

He bowed after the happening and his eyes were lost on the silhouette of the man running away. That has happened before, but the last time it wasn't his fault. His fists clenched involuntarily, he looked at the small road downside the river. That place brought him memories, albeit there were some blurry scenes, among those memories he could remember clearly Shizuka's face when she pulled him out of the way, if it was not for her, he couldn't have played, neither he could dedicate himself to the team on that year, and he probably wouldn't have the chance to confront his declared rival.

Surely he would have lost many experiences that were valuable for him, not only as a player, but as a person. His reveries were irrupted by the familiar voices worriedly shouting at him:

"Shin-san, are you all right?!"

He swerved immediately meeting the faces of acquaintances, slightly surprised. He was wordless for a moment, but recomposed his calm posture:

"Kobayakawa Sena… and Raimon Tarou…"

"You almost got hit by that bike!" Monta puffed out nervously "Are you sure it's fine?"

"I'm fine." He asserted, frowning.

"Huh… That's a relief…" Sena sighed touching his chest

"Are you in the middle of your training schedule? Be careful when you walk on this road, I've heard some accidents have happened here…"Monta warned.

"I will keep this in mind, Thanks you. If you excuse me…" his vague response came accompanied with a respectful bow and he started to run again.

"That guy is so awkward…"Monta narrowed his eyes.

"Hm…" Sena had a concerned expression "Did something happen to him…?"

"I don't know, but something will happen to us if we get late."

"Iieeek, that's true!"

They ran fast and again, arrived at the club out of breathe. Hiruma shoot them almost to their deaths, and when the mood calmed down, he started to confer if they had brought everything he asked.

"Ah, by the way, we've met Shin-san on the way here… We stopped to have a word and almost got here late…"

Sena was telling it to Mamori, but Hiruma's accurate ears didn't fail to catch that, and his shadow slowly drew near the running back. Some drops of sweat rolled down on Mamori's face as she stared at Hiruma's devilish smirk and his evil hands holding the boy's shoulders.

"Did you see who, _Sena-kun_?"

"H-huh… Hiruma-san…" he gulped

"Tell me about this in details…"

After Sena explained his brief encounter, Hiruma's face was serious and his gaze landed on the walls of the room as his bubblegum busted, and he pondered quietly about something.

"Hum… How can I say this…?" Sena scratched his own face "He looked very distracted, he is usually dense, but… Today was somewhat even stranger."

"Hiehiehe…" Hiruma's dry laugh made a chill run down Sena's spine. "I have a great idea! Listen, my servants, you'd better follow the training schedule, I'll be back soon!"

And as if his body was made of shadows, he vanished in a second, stunning them. The members of Deimon Devil bats wondered what he was planning this time.

Not far from there, the sun was almost disappearing and the first starts were already coming into sight. Shin was finally going back to school, he ran focused on something, too concentrated to sense the gruesome devil lurking near him.

Hiruma was riding a bike and came at full speed at him, Shin noticed a few seconds before they collided and jumped, what was happening with him today? It was the second time he almost got hit by a bike.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you coming you were running too fast." The person using a helmet told in a fake worried tone.

When he looked at the suspicious biker, he identified him in an instant, no matter which disguise Hiruma used, Shin could see him by his muscles.

"Hiruma from Devil bats…?" he frowned.

"Tsk…" Hiruma put off the helmet "Well, I've heard something interesting… Then I thought it would be great to make a deal with you…" his devilish smirk made a dark aura leak out of him.

"Sorry. I'm not interested." Shin declined bluntly and started running again, but Hiruma called him once more:

"Not even if this devil here tell you about a certain red-haired angel that used to protect Oujou?" his eyes sharpened.

Shin's body froze and he whirled back, glaring at Hiruma, perplexed with those words. What could he know about Shizuka? And why was he saying he would help?

"Oh… Are you interested? Very well then, if you agree with my terms I might tell you where your angel is right now…" his high pitched laugh soared in the air.

A drop of sweat rolled down the linebacker's face as he saw an evil aura pouring out and Hiruma's shadow transfiguring into that of a dark and malevolent creature with horns and a tail. Would he really make a deal with that devil to meet Shizuka again?


	17. Decision

**Disclaimer:** Eyeshield is an original master-piece created by Riichirou Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

 **Summary:** After meeting Eyeshield 21, Shin Seijurou felt his abilities were still lacking and to overcome this, he started to train even harder, at the same time, he meets a red-haired girl from his class who seems to be particularly interested on Oujou White Knights and a unexpected bond was formed between those two…? A romance between a training geek and the daughter of the coach?!

 **Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

 **Chapter 17:** Decision

"So, what do you say? Hyah." He snickered.

Shin's eyes narrowed as he stared at the evil figure trying to lure him to something that was clearly a bad contract. He needed to ascertain why the man was so sure that he could help with Shizuka's case.

"How do you know about Shizuka and why are you saying you can help?" he was succinct.

"Well…" Hiruma's face had a serious tone as he looked into Shin's earnest eyes and pondered about his next phrase "I have my contacts all around the world, and about why I'm saying this is because I know where she is currently and I know how you can find her. Don't you want to bring her back?" he picked his blackmail notebook. "If you had the chance, wouldn't you want to see her once more?"

"What do you think you know?" Shin frowned annoyed by Hiruma's devilish murmurs.

"Hiehieh…" he opened his notebook and his evil aura increased, his eyes became white "I know everything, what she did for you and the team; that she didn't want to go but preferred to not rebel for the sake of her family and that she was completely in lo-"

"Enough." Shin clenched his fist interrupting him "Your blackmails and dirty tactics won't work on me." He closed his eyes.

"Well, if you're not interested…" he closed the book "… I would make it for a fairly good price, but since neither you nor her father are really interested in helping that little angel, I presume you're fine with her going abroad at the middle of the year."

"What?!" the linebacker was caught in surprise with that declaration.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Hiruma's smirk appeared on his face again, his manipulative skills were no joke "Accordingly to my sources, her sister will send her to a school in United States, she will finish her second grade there and she will eventually enroll on an university, plus, her sister plans to transfer her job there too, which means the chances you'll get to see that girl again will be almost zero."

"….." he frowned, this time in confusion and gulped. "What do you want from me?"

"Oh? Do we have an agreement?" a satisfied smirk played on his lips as he rummaged on his pocket to take out a paper from it, handing to Shin "This is our contract, you only need to sign at the end of the paper and I'll tell you everything you need to know!"

"A contract… what?" he passed his eyes through the lines and casted his perplexed gaze at Hiruma "Is… just it?"

"Isn't it a fine price?" he rubbed his hands "I'm sure you'll be responsible enough to fulfill your part on the agreement." He offered a pen.

"… Fine."

Accepting the offer, he signed the mysterious contract and Hiruma laughed out-heartedly like a demon. The ace wondered whether it was or not wise to accept the agreement, but, when he thought about Shizuka's situation, there weren't any doubts heaving his mind, he should go and talk to her once more to settle this whole story.

.

.

.

The morning classes of the day were finally ending at Oujou. Sakuraba walked leisurely by the side of his quiet friend, and yawned, he had been studying very hard those last days to pass on the exams, surprisingly enough, Shin had better grades than him even if he didn't study a lot.

"We still have training today, but the coach told only the ones who got good grades on the exams from last Monday will take part in the training… I'm not sure if I'll be able to participate." His shoulders slumped in dismay.

"…." Shin sighed heavily as if there was something bothering him, but his indifferent face turned his emotions unpredictable for his friend.

"Hm… Is there something bothering you, Shin?" Sakuraba raised a brow and casted a side-glance to the colleague.

"….." he stopped walking and looked at his friend, clenching his fists "I won't be taking part on the afternoon trainings today."

"Wha-?" the idol was astonished.

"I have some important matters to take care of. Excuse-me…" he bowed and started to take his leave.

"Wait!" Sakuraba grabbed his shoulder and stopped him "Where are you going? Why in the world are you skipping trainings…?"

He only stared a second at his friend's face. Shin's brows were furrowed and his expression was resolute and had a passion he could rarely see Shin demonstrating for something that was not related to football. If he was skipping the trainings, the exemplary player who seldom committed mistakes, there must be a fairly good reason for that. He could trust this much on Shin because he knew him well.

"I mean… What should I tell the coach…?" he gulped, recoiling one step and looking earnestly at his friend.

Shin's furrowed brow gradually relaxed and his colorless tone came back to his face, he finally answered:

"You can tell I'm going to bring his daughter back."

"Wha-" Sakuraba had drops of sweat on face and again, was completely out of words. "Wait, Shin, what are you going to do?"

He stretched his hand towards the back of the man that was already going away, but his friend didn't look back, he followed ahead unflinchingly and told:

"I'll do as I promised."

The eyes of the receiver wavered and he lost the will to follow his teammate, he couldn't believe that Shin was actually going.

"Ah…" he sighed to calm down his nervousness "That's Shin for you. But… I wonder if he argued with the coach… Shogun will not be pleased to listen he is after his daughter again…"

.

.

.

 **A week ago,**

Shizuka was transferred to another academy, it was an only-girls school that had strict rules and well-conceited for educating fine ladies of the high society, it was localized on a province from the region, but the city had a four-hours distance from the place she used to live. She has promised to watch some trainings of Oujou and visit them, but she didn't have time to, her sister probably thought about it before transferring her, of course.

While she walked towards her new school, she clenched her grip on her bag and lowering her head. She was taking her documents to finish the adjustments for her ingress on the place next year, after she entered the school, they would give her a scholarship and she would transfer again to a school abroad that had good connections with them, that's why she had to bring so many papers and carefully finish the adjustments. Her face expressed how opposing to the idea she was, she never chose to live abroad. Her brows curled up as she looked at the entrance of her new school.

"Geez, pouting won't do anything, Shizuka." She sighed heavily and inspired some motivation to enter the place.

After talking to the chairwoman, she was invited to know the structure of the school, of course she was the least interested, but she agreed. Her eyes were somewhat vague along the way, because her thoughts were still jumbled after the latest happenings, the silhouette of her enraged sister appeared on her mind every time she thought about Oujou.

Her sister was not like that before, but something changed inside Megumi after their mother died. Maybe, she was so hurt she had to blame someone, or she couldn't live with herself thinking Shizuka was not safe at Oujou, she probably thought about the city and about the school as places that were cursed and could cause harm to her. Plus, Megumi developed some sort of hatred for their father, blaming him for their mother's death.

Their mother was a very gentle and firm person, she resembled Shizuka in some ways, but she got very sick, while she was sick, Shouji Gunpei was overloaded with work, thinking about the team, and their mother knew very well how much he loved the team, he paid some visits, but he wasn't there when she died… Megumi was so frustrated for that, she ended blaming him and accusing him of his careless, negligent behavior as a husband. This feeling of irritation has grown, and now she doesn't want even to see Shizuka near their father.

After finishing her visit, she frequented the school the whole week to take some extra classes of English as included on the accord her sister had sealed with the school, and she had some other lessons about culture and many subjects that would help her adaptation. Her mind was exhausted and sometimes, she would take a peek outside the window, to the free world.

Her eyes locked on the sky and on the entrance of the place. Differently from Oujou there wasn't a garden, she missed the red, yellow and orange leaves coloring the gate of the school. To tell the truth, she was hopeless, because she missed everything about Oujou, the place, the team, her friends, her father, the games and… She sighed, closing her eyes, thinking about the past wouldn't help her now, she needed to raise her head and think about the future from now on.

That was the last day of the week, but the boring and empty routine would repeat on the next week and for the rest of the year, until… Her steps ceased near the entrance of the school, she was already going home. Or better, could she really call her sister's house her home? She didn't think so. Her home was… That busy place in which her father always planned the next games, around those dedicated players and on that school in which the bullies insisted on bothering her.

She lowered her gaze to the ground while the other students passed by commenting about her, she still wasn't using an uniform and it was quite clear she was a new face in that school. Her red hair detached in the middle of those common students. She only came back to her right senses when she heard many whispers and some agitation on the voices of her colleagues.

"Hm?" her curious honey eyes averted to the side, where two girls whispered about something strange.

"Who's that?" one of the girls asked with a worried expression.

"I don't know, he's standing at the entrance. Does he know it's a girl's academy?" she had some disgust in her voice.

"He has a strange face, why is he standing like that? He looks a suspicious criminal."

"Should we call the police?"

Shizuka raised a brow and looked at the entrance. Her eyes widened open and she almost gasped when she saw the figure standing at the entrance with a diligent expression.

"Shin?!" she covered her mouth when her voice sounded louder than it was supposed to and the girls paid attention to her with confused glances. "Ah…" she gulped and hurried her steps.

"W-what? I-is it really him?" she refused to believe, but the more she approached the entrance, the more it was clear it was him "Why is he here? Did my father ask him to come? No, father wouldn't do that… By the way, there's a big misunderstanding going on, he will end up in jails if he don't go away fast…"

He was using his training clothes, so he must have looked like a pervert to the others girls. Shizuka blushed, she had just arrived on that place and she was already having problems there, what a shame.

When she finally came to sight, he was startled and opened his mouth, but before he could pronounce a word, she grabbed his shoulders, swirled him to the other side and pushed his back away from the entrance, looking at the sides while her colleagues set their curious gazes on her.

"Shizuka…?"

"I don't have time to explain now, but Shin, you shouldn't just stand still at the entrance of places, people will think you're suspicious! We can't stay here!"

.

.

.

After pushing him for a while, they arrived at a place in which they could visualize the school at the horizon. The red-haired placed a hand on her chest and sighed in relief. Then, she finally turned at him with a scowl that gradually transformed into an earnest and colorless expression as she saw his face.

"Shin, what are you doing here?" her brows curled up in concern "Did my father ask you to come here?"

"No. Coach didn't ask me anything."

"He didn't? Then why…" she was stunned.

"I've come to talk to you."

"Sheesh…" she suspired heavily and told in a stern, determined tone "I've already told you all, Shin, I won't be coming back to Oujou. It's better if I study here. There's nothing more to talk."

Her expression was firm, but Shin wasn't shaken by her words, he stared at her as if probing how long she could keep her façade ad continued.

"That's what your sister wanted you to tell, but I didn't come here to listen to this, I want to listen how you really feel about this, Shizuka."

Her eyes widened in surprise, he did seem serious about the matter, but what could she say to make him go away for once and all? Shin was always dedicated to his promises, and she knew that side of him well, what could she do once he had come all the way just to listen her reasons? She frowned in annoyance, but her heart clenched with the next words she pronounced:

"Then, you're wasting your time. That's exactly how I feel about this. I'll have a good opportunity to study and my life will be better. My sister was right, everything that happened to me only brought me infortunes and troubles, there isn't a single memory of me I can remember in which I wasn't hurt. I don't want this sort of life anymore. So, you'd better go and tell father I'm not going back."

No matter how rude and bad she tried to make her voice sound like, just by taking a look at her eyes, Shin could feel there was something off. He was good at reading people's feelings even though he himself wasn't an expert in conveying his feelings to the others.

"As I've said, I didn't come here in your father's behalf. He doesn't know I'm here. He would never ask me such thing, you must know if coach wanted to talk to you, he would come in person to see you."

Shizuka tightened the grip on her bag, she knew her father didn't come because she was doing everything for him in the first place. Again, she had a defiant glare and her cold words were directed to the linebacker:

"He didn't come here, so you must know my father agreed with my transference, of course. If you understand, don't come here, you're bothering me. I'm studying in a place that only girls are allowed, if you come, it will cause me problems."

She turned her back to leave, but she halted when he spoke the next words, which elicited some irritation inside her:

"Why aren't you telling the truth? This is not how you truly feel Shizuka. Why did you lie that time too? No matter how many times you repeat those words, I know that's not what you really think."

Her eyebrows furrowed in an obtuse angle and she whirled back irritated with his persistence. She was trying to end that as fast as possible, but he was such a stubborn person.

"And what do you think you know about me?! How can you presume it's not my decision?! Why do you think I would come here if it was not my will?!"

"You have a great sense of responsibility Shizuka." he looked into her eyes "That's precisely why you would take over many responsibilities that are not yours alone. I know why you are here."

"Who told you such imbecility?!" her voice was already hoarse.

"No one told me that." he closed his eyes, then looked at her again, this time with an inquiring air around him and a slight frown "During this year, the Shizuka I knew would help the others, you had confidence and above all else, when you tried to defend someone you cherished for, an unwavering courage was born inside you, you never cared about getting hurt either as long as the people you loved were fine, you even fought those delinquents and suffered an accident; You would never question someone if you thought it could bring troubles for your friends, I've always thought about this as another good side of your generous personality, but I was wrong… And I came here to ask you why you're still here. Where is that courage you had before? If you tell me with the utmost certainty that you're happy here, I'll accept your decision, but if you can't, I'll not go until you say the truth."

Her eyes wobbled and her posture changed, she couldn't keep calm on that moment, her eyes teared. She grabbed her bag with both hands and threw it at Shin in a burst of rage. He flinched when the bag hit him, but he didn't move an inch much to Shizuka's aggravation.

"What are you doing here, stupid?! You should've gone already! Let me alone!" her tears threatened to fall "Why…" she closed her fists tightly "Why do you think I'd do something so stupid?! I don't want to go back to Oujou anymore! Why can't you accept it was my decision and disappear from my sight right now?!" her tears started to fall and her face was completely red from the accumulated rage that was boiling inside her.

In contrast to her turbulent emotions, Shin face was calm, although his bothered expression denounced he wasn't feeling exactly satisfied with the result of that conversation. He continued with a collected and bland voice:

"Because since we've met you have only done things for the sake of the others, but along the way, you ended up forgetting to take care of yourself too." His eyes closed along with his saddened words.

Shizuka would complain, but her words faltered when his gaze landed on her eyes again. He exerted some kind of pressure and she lost the arguments crossing her mind at that moment.

"Why are you still here Shizuka? Where that courage of yours had gone to? If you don't like this place, why are you still here?"

"I-it's not simple as you think…" her voice was low and she lowered her gaze "You can't understand Shin… It's…" the tears delineated her face with a mix of angst and resignation "Once the next year starts I'll be leaving Japan… And I probably won't go back to Oujou anymore…" she wiped her tears "Megumi won't let me go back, and my father is afraid that if he contests Megumi she will hate him forever… What can I do?" she dropped, sitting on the ground and hiding her face. "I don't want to stay here, I don't like this place… I like Oujou and miss the team, Sakuraba-kun, father's trainings and you too…"

"….." Shin's brows curled in pity "Shizuka…" he breathed deeply and frowned once more, determined "Your father was worried with you, but he couldn't say anything when you parted because he thought you were ready to bear the consequences of your choices, but that's not how you really feel… Then, Shizuka, if you don't want to stay here, you don't need to."

"H-huh?" she raised her eyes to look at him, confused by his words "B-but…"

"No matter how complex the situation is, it's not fair to take this burden alone, moreover, if it's something between your father and your sister, you can't be used as a piece that conveniently side with one of them, if you tell your father how you really feel, coach surely would defend your cause, because he also wishes for your happiness, Shizuka." He stretched his hand "That's why I've come to pick you. Let's tell the coach how you feel and end this ludicrous situation."

"Wha…?"

"You don't need to do it alone, I'll be by your side the whole time, so you don't need to worry about this, I'll take the responsibility for your sake either. Let's go back home, Shizuka."

Inside her eyes there was a single image reflected: that hand Shin offered to help. Her honey orbs wavered wildly and she moved her hand towards his, accepting his help. He pulled her up in a single movement.

"H-huh, but when do you intend to go back? It's already late, if my sisters finds out I'm not going back home early…"

"There's no need to worry, we will be going right now."

"R-right now?" she was startled.

"Right." He squeezed her hand and looking ahead, a subtle smile appeared on his lips "If we hurry, we can make it before coach leaves his office…"

"Eh?"

Before she could ask more questions he pulled her along. It would surely become a good memory in the future, although she felt heavy with the worries clutching her heart, she couldn't help but feel a bit enthusiastic about her small escaping and a flame of courage was lit inside her heart again.

It was the time she decided told her father and her sister how she felt, she had been holding those feelings for too long, thinking it was for their sake, but in the end, it never helped them getting along better, then, this time, she would tell what was inside her heart. But… Would it really change something? Or would her destiny be the same as now…?


End file.
